Walk Through Hell
by laurencedar055
Summary: Addie was always destined to be Harry Potter's best friend, but along the way, she fell for Draco Malfoy. She would do anything for either of them, but in the dawn of the Second War, she must discover which would do the same for her.
1. Chapter 1

Diagon Alley had always been a place that Addie felt safe at, but now it was just cold, dark, and empty. People used to take their time, strolling the streets, stopping at every shop or stand that caught their eye, but now, the wizards who were even brave enough to venture to such a public place as Diagon Alley kept their eyes averted to the ground, looking as if they couldn't get out of there fast enough.

There was, of course, one place that seemed to still have business. Weasley Wizard Wheezes seemed to be the only store still lit up in the alley; there was a constant ebb and flow of people into and out of the store and Addie watched in awe at the amount of business that the store was getting as she sat in a cozy corner with Hermione, who seemed appalled, yet intrigued by the trinkets around them.

"This stuff is… is…" she seemed at a loss for words.

"Amazing," Addie finished her sentence, "Absolutely amazing. I can't believe Fred and George actually had the brains to come up with some of this stuff."

Hermione picked up a Decoy Detonator, with a bamboozled look on her face, "I just… don't know why anyone would buy some of this stuff."

"Times are dark," Addie said, looking across the store at her sullen-faced best friend, "people are looking for anything to lighten the tension." As she looked at his saddened face, she felt her own temporary happiness slipping away with each passing second. It was a wonder that she was able to be happy for even a few minutes, given what had happened just a few weeks prior. Harry, however, hadn't been able to forget about it for even a few minutes. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to him," Addie said, getting up from her spot on the floor, "Watch out for those love potions, Ron might try to slip you one."

With a dirty look from Hermione, Addie made her way over to Harry, who had been looking at the same Headless Hat for ten minutes. Unnoticed by Harry, Addie picked one up and put one on her head, and immediately, it disappeared, "How do I look?"

"Brilliant," Harry said flatly, barely looking up, "Better than usual."

"Harry!"

"Oh, God," he said, looking up, "I'm sorry. I didn't realize…I didn't mean that…I didn't really see that you put that on your head," Harry stumbled over his words, trying to make up for nearly calling his best friend ugly.

Addie laughed, shaking out her dark hair as she pulled the hat off of her head, "Nice save, Potter."

"Walk with me," she said, grabbing his hand. She led him out the door into the nearly deserted alley. She spoke as they walked, neither really sure where they were going, "I know you don't want to hear it, Harry, but I know how you feel."

"You don't," he said quietly, "You don't know, Addie."

"How could I not know?"

"You just…he was all I had left! He was the only family that I had, and now he's gone, just like my parents! You don't understand."

Addie inhaled calmly; she hated when Harry acted as though he was the only one who knew pain, "I loved Sirius, too, Harry."

"It wasn't the same."

"How can you say that, Harry?" Addie couldn't calm the anger in her voice, "How can you say that to me?"

"You have a family that loves you, Addie. I don't have anyone."

"Oh yeah, having a Death Eater for a father, I really find myself experiencing a lot of love."

"You have your mum! She's always talking you on Order trips with her; you're hardly ever home to see your father anyway. And Remus loves you like his own! You do have a family!"

Addie sighed, leaning against a brick wall, thinking of the dysfunction that was her family: Mitchell Clayworth, her father, tall, built, dark-haired, and a Death Eater; Madeline Lacey, her mother, most commonly called by her middle name, Claire, short, blonde, and a member of the Order of the Phoenix. They were polar opposites and how they ever came to procreate, Addie had no idea.

They didn't spend much time together as a family; Addie spent her time evenly divided between her mother and father, when she was with her mother, they were usually off on some kind of adventure for the Order, which Addie loved. Her time with her father was usually spent at the Malfoys.

Time with the Malfoys wasn't as bad as some may think, mostly because her father and Lucius were usually never there, so she spent most of her time with Narcissa and Draco. In the nearly sixteen years that Addie had been spending time with Draco, they had become quite close, and that was something that her other friends couldn't understand.

And then there was Remus Lupin, her godfather and her mother's best friend. He was always there for her, and she loved him like a father, just as he loved her like a daughter. Remus was everything to her that her own father was not.

So, sure, she had a family, but that didn't mean that Sirius was any less of a loss to her, "Yeah," she replied, "I do," she still couldn't contain her anger, "I guess you're right, Harry. Sirius didn't mean nearly as much to me as he did to you, even though I knew him my entire life, growing up, visiting him in Azkaban-"

"You're so right, Addie, you were closer to him than I was. I shouldn't be grieving still because I was stuck living in a cupboard under the stairs at the Dursleys instead of having the privilege of visiting him at Azkaban!" He slunk down against the wall, head in his hands. Addie sat down next to him, gently placing a hand on his shoulder; she knew he was crying again, but didn't want to show her.

They sat there, alone in the dusty alley for what seemed like an hour before Harry spoke again, "I know you loved him as much as I did," she squeezed his shoulder when he spoke, "I know that night was just as hard for you as it was for me, I don't know what's wrong with me."

"You don't have to go through this alone. I'm here."

"I know you are," he hesitated a minute, "I'm…I'm here, too, you know." Addie nodded, silently, "You should really talk about it. It's not go-"

"I don't want to talk about McGregor, alright? Not right now."

"Okay, but when you do…"

"I'll let you know."

Addie looked at to the sky; it was beginning to redden, the sun was going to set soon. She must have lost track of time. She had to get back to Knockturn Alley; she had to be at least an hour late.

"Harry, I'm sorry. I'm late. I'm so late. They are going to kill me. Quite literally, maybe," Addie leapt to her feet and nearly fell in her haste. Harry stabilized her.

"What's the rush? What's wrong?"

"I'm with my father today, I'm here with him and the Malfoys. I was supposed to be getting something out of my mother's vault at Gringotts. They don't know I'm with you. I'm going to be in so much trouble. I'm sorry. I'll send you an owl and let you know if I survived the beating!"

As he watched her run off into the fading sunlight towards Knockturn Alley, worry bubbled in Harry's throat, hoping that his best friend would be able to come up with a brilliant lie before she reached them.

Addie knew they were mad before she even shut the door to Borgin and Burkes. She could feel the anger in the room before she turned around to face them. She took her time closing the door, like it was an intricate task given to her by someone extremely important.

Holding her breath, she slowly turned, coming face to face with her father, Lucius, Draco, and Narcissa. Neither of the owners were around, which deeply frightened her. Of course, she would never let them know how fearful she was.

"Hello, Adrienne, have a nice day?" her father said. Addie stayed quiet. "It's funny, you left three hours ago, telling us you were going to Gringotts-"

"I did go to Gringotts."

"Oh, did you? Strange, none of the goblins there seem to remember you coming in."

"Don't you have anything better to do than spy on me, father?" she spat. Being a brat had gotten her nowhere with her father through the years, but she was not about to sit around and kiss his ass, like Draco did with his father.

Her father's wand hit her cheek like a knife, and immediately she felt blood dripping down the side of her face. A single, deep, two inch slash was left on her face, but Addie didn't move a muscle; she remained dead still in the middle of the store, eyes fixated on Draco, who didn't do anything to defend her, but sent her a look of remorse.

"Where did you go, Adrienne?" his eyes were slits, ready to attack again.

"Like I would tell you a damn thing."

The wand hit her bare upper arm this time, leaving another large, bleeding gash. Still, Addie didn't move, she just stared blankly at Draco, who still refused to defend the girl that he called his closest friend.

"I think," he said, circling his daughter, "that you were with Potter."

Addie didn't look at him. She just kept staring ahead into Draco's icy blue eyes.

"What do you think, Lucius? What should I do about my daughter frolicking around Diagon Alley with our Dark Lord's number one enemy?"

"Those who do not stand with the Dark Lord must be punished," Lucius said mechanically, as if he had said it a dozen times.

"That," her father said, as he circled back around her, "were my thoughts precisely."

The curse hit her just as it had hit her a hundred times before, but it still hurt just as badly as it did the first time. It was as if a thousand knives were piercing through her body, stabbing right through her; it was debilitating, mind-numbing pain, and she couldn't stop herself from crying out in agony, though she so desperately wished she could stand it, so he wouldn't get the satisfaction of knowing that he had hurt her.

Addie fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, relief washing over her as the curse lifted. Her eyes were wet, though she couldn't remember starting to cry, "Take her home," her father said cruelly. She felt a pair of hand lift her from the ground and a moment later, she felt her lungs being contracted in her chest, and everything went black.

"You should have let mum do that before I brought you home."

"No, thank you. I can do it myself." Addie put the tip of her wand on her cheek, moving it slowly over the length of the cut, whispering a healing incantation. The wound felt warm, and new skin started forming immediately. She did the same to the cut on her arm.

"Why don't you heal that all the way? It won't scar then."

"I want it to scar, alright?"

Addie stood in her massive bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror, Draco sat on her marble counter top, swinging his feet in the air. He looked at her, a little taken aback by her tone. She softened at the shocked look on his face, "Then I have proof of what he's done to me; its like a reminder of his abuse."

"Such an ugly thing to happen to such a beautiful face," he said, cupping her injured cheek in his hand. Her brown eyes locked with his blue ones. He leaned in a little closer to her. Addie had been close to him in the past, but this was the first time she had felt so emotionally and physically close to him…

He kissed her forehead.

Clearing her throat and jumping up next to him on the counter she said, "So, um, where have our fathers gone off to? Voldie have a meeting?"

He ignored her nickname for Voldemort, "I believe so, yes."

"So how come you're not there?" she looked at him, deep in the eyes. Addie had known all summer that Draco had been attending more and more Death Eater meetings, though she pretended not to notice. It worried her. She didn't want him to turn into one of them. He wasn't like them. She knew the real Draco Malfoy and he was far from a Death Eater.

"Do you want me to be there?"

"No, I don't," she hesitated a moment, "but I know you've been going. You've been going all summer. Don't deny it," she added after seeing a look of denial cross his face. He nodded slowly, without a word. "You joined up, didn't you?"

"There's something I have to do. My father is making me. It's not like I had a choice."

She jumped off the counter, and stood in front of him. Her tiny body fit between his legs, "You have a choice. Let me help you. Let us help you, the Order."

"I can't," he said weakly.

"Draco," she said quietly into his ear, she lightly ran her fingers down his left arm. She felt him stir.

"Addie, I can't…I… I can't betray my family," he stuttered.

She wasn't sure what she was doing, exactly. Until then, she and Draco had been platonic, just friends. Just very good friends, but there had been something in the way he was looking at her a few minutes ago that told her he held the same desire for her that she had held for him for years.

Addie had a knack for reading even the most stone-faced people like a book, like it was some special power that she had.

"You hate this life, Draco. This isn't what you want for yourself," she had her lips moving against his ear this time; he was so preoccupied with trying to keep himself calm in the wake of the woman that he so desperately longed for, finally, [I]finally[/I] touching him and talking to him the way that he wanted her to, that he didn't notice when she unbuttoned the cuff of the left sleeve of his shirt.

"I know, but I just can't," a few beads of sweat formed on his forehead now. He was trying so hard to keep himself calm, but he wasn't going to be able to contain his desire much longer. Calm and collected as he usually was, he sometimes had no choice but to shed that persona. After all, he was a teenage boy.

And she was his friend. His best friend. His beautiful, perfect, sexy, best friend…

He was so far into his fantasy that he didn't notice when she brought his left arm towards her and lifted the sleeve. The only thing that pulled him out of his fantasy land was the gasp that escaped her lips, a gasp that wasn't out of pleasure from something that he did to her.

The black mark seemed to swim across the skin on his arm. It stood out, contrasting with his pale skin. Addie didn't know why it was such a shock to see it; she had seen it on her father hundreds of times, but to see it on Draco, on an arm where it didn't belong…

She had expected it, though. He couldn't possibly have gone to so many meetings without getting branded. Draco didn't say anything, for there was nothing he could say. Addie traced her thumb over it, and he winced because it was still sensitive. It still had a faint, pink outline around it, from it being etched into his skin.

"Did it hurt?" It was kind of a silly question, but Addie felt like she needed to ask it.

"Yes, like hell."

"Oh, my Draco…" she ran a hand through his hair, "What have you gotten yourself into?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry," he wrapped his big hands around her tiny waist.

"Of course I'll worry," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his neck, taking in his scent…

Then, a pop sounded from downstairs, "Addie!" her mother called, "I come bearing gifts, and your friends, who are dying to see you!"

Draco jumped off the counter in a panic and looked at Addie. Quickly, she grabbed his arm and buttoned his cuff again, "I won't tell a soul, Draco," she whispered softly into his ear, even in the panic of her mother returning home early, his knees went weak with her voice.

Addie pulled him through her bedroom, out to the third floor landing, and down the long flight of stairs. In the foyer, they were greeted by her mother, Harry, Hermione, and Ron, all of whom gasped, either at the sight of Addie's face, or the fact that she had been up in her room alone with Draco, or both.

"Hey, Mum," Addie said, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek.

"Hi, Mrs. Clayworth," Draco said, feeling a bit guilty, even though nothing but a kiss on the forehead happened. He chose not to acknowledge the other people in the room, mostly out of courtesy to Addie.

Claire looked suspiciously from her daughter to Draco, "Hello, dear," she said to him.

"I got worried when you didn't owl…" Harry said, shooting a glare at his enemy.

"You worry too much, Harry, but one moment, I was uh, just showing Draco to the fireplace…" she said, yanking Draco out of the foyer and to the sitting room, where the only fireplace connected to the Floo Network was located.

"They think I did that to you," he said.

"Well you didn't. I'll explain it, its not a big deal," she said, grabbing some Floo Powder off of the mantle.

"I may as well have. I didn't do anything to stop it…"

"Now is not the time to start feeling bad about that," Addie pushed him into the fireplace, shoving some powder into his hands, "Here. I'll owl you later when they leave, and you can come back if you want; I just feel that if you're here with them someone will end up dueling you… "

"Goodbye, Addie."

She watched as he was engulfed by the harmless green flames.


	2. Chapter 2

****

Pictures of you, pictures of me, hung upon the wall for the world to see; pictutes of you, pictures of me, remind us all of what we used to be...

"No, Addie, absolutely not," Claire scolded, "Get your arse out of this kitchen."

"Mum!" Addie complained, "Why can't I help you set up? It is my birthday party, after all."

Claire shook her head, looking up, like she was speaking to God, "The one day I _don't_ want her to help, she won't leave me alone. I can never win..."

Addie stuck her tongue out at her mother mockingly, "What time is everyone coming?"

"Five," she said, whipping her wand and gathering all of the ingredients for a cake, "but I requested that Harry, Hermione, and Ron all come as soon as possible because you are getting on my ever-loving nerves here, and I need them to provide you with some entertainment."

"I am terribly sorry that I want to spend some quality time with my mother," Addie said, causing Claire to nearly fall over from laughter, "Fine, Mum, don't believe me!" she added sarcastically, "So dad's not coming, I take it?"

"What? Oh, yes, of course he is coming. He is bringing the Lucius and Draco after their meeting," Claire replied, matter-of-factly.

Addie's eyes went wide. Was her mother insane? How could she not see that them coming would be a problem?

"Mum, they can't come. Harry is going to be here!" she could just see the sadistic look that would surely form on Lucius' face at the sight of Harry. How easy it would be for him to lift his sleeve and call Voldemort right there in the middle of Addie's sixteenth birthday party.

"They are coming," Claire said, as she charmed a spoon to mix the cake batter, "because Lucius is your father's best friend. They are here every year for your birthday; this year will be no different-"

"This year _is_ different! Times have never been so dark, Voldemort wants Harry finished now; what's stopping Lucius from summoning him? The Malfoys are in horrible standing with him right now; handing over Harry would be a one way ticket back into his inner circle!"

Claire sighed, "Harry will be perfectly safe here. If Lucius does try anything, half of the Order will be here; he isn't nearly that stupid. But I happen to know for a fact that he will not do anything."

"How could you possibly know that?"

"I have asked your father for no funny business regarding Harry; Lucius is afraid of your father, he won't try anything."

"And how do you know Dad's going to listen?"

"Oh Addie," she said simply, "because with your father, what I say goes. Now," she added, a poking her daughter in the stomach lightly with a spatula, "get out of my kitchen."

* * *

"We don't want to spoil your mood," Addie heard Harry say from somewhere in her room; she could barely hear him from the depths of her expansive closet, where she currently stood with Hermione, trying to pick out something to wear, "but we really should tell you something."

"What is it, Harry?" Addie called, deep from within, then added to Hermione, "What do you think, this sundress, or should I go with a pair of shorts and a nice blouse?"

Hermione pondered a minute, "I love that dress," she finally decided, "you should wear it."

"Okay," Addie decided, "Do you want one?" she asked, after seeing how much her friend liked the dress. She had plenty of dresses and loved helping her friend out with her wardrobe once in a while. Hermione nodded happily, "Pick one."

"It's about Draco," Addie heard Harry yell. Quickly she slipped off her cotton shorts and t-shirt and pulled the dress over her head.

"Can you zip me?" she asked Hermione, who had just changed into another one of her dresses, "Do you know about what he's talking about?"

Hermione pulled the zipper up, and then turned around for Addie to zip hers, "I don't really think it's that big of a deal. He's convinced Draco is up to something. How do I look?"

"Awesome," she replied, "Ron will be drooling all over you."

"Oh stop," Hermione said, blushing.

The girls walked out of the closet and out into Addie's bedroom. Harry and Ron were sitting on her king-sized bed, and just as Addie suspected, Ron's jaw dropped. She gave Hermione a little nudge and a wink.

"What is it that you're blabbing about out here?" Addie asked, as the girls continued through the bedroom to the attached bathroom to fix their make-up, "Use this," she handed some eye shadow to Hermione, "It will bring out your eyes."

"I really think that Malfoy is up to something," Harry said, "we saw him in Diagon Alley after you left, and he was looking very edgy, so we followed him to Borgin and Burkes and he seemed very interested in something in there."

Addie held her breath a minute, as the memory of being in that very bathroom with Draco the other day flooded her mind. The Dark Mark, the mission, Draco was a Death Eater…

She felt ashamed; she was going to have to lie to Harry, and even worse, she had to lie to Harry to protect Draco. If Harry ever found out, Addie was sure he would never forgive her.

She walked back out into her room after reapplying some makeup, "He is always interested in something in that store; it's his favorite."

"He was talking about repairing something."

"Come to think of it, I think I remember hearing something about an old family artifact being broken…"

"It sounded important."

"They think everything is important."

Harry looked at her very seriously, his green eyes looking deep into hers; it made it so hard for her to lie to him. She looked away from him, cleverly making it look like she was checking up on Hermione back in the bathroom, "Addie, do you know something? Please, it could be really important…"

"Harry, if he were up to something that important, he wouldn't tell me," Addie hoped to God that he would be happy with that answer and breathed a sigh of relief when he shrugged his shoulders, and nodded his head in reason.

Hermione finally made her way out of the bathroom, makeup freshly applied. The gulp that Ron made could have been heard all the way in the basement it, was so loud. Harry and Addie looked at each other, both with a devilish grin on their faces.

They were going to have fun pushing the two of them together all night.

* * *

Hermione looked at the banister apprehensively, "I really don't want to do this. Why can't I use the stairs like a normal person? If you guys want to slide, go ahead, I'll walk behind…"

"How have you never slid down a banister?" Addie asked, "You're a muggle!"

"A muggle that we love very much, however," Harry added nicely.

"Indeed," said Ron

"Just because I'm a muggle doesn't mean that I go around sliding down banisters!"

The three others couldn't help laughing at her flustered expression. Her face was red with exasperation and she was beginning to sweat off some of the makeup that she had just applied. She looked as though she was on the verge of crying.

"There's a first time for everything!" Harry said cheerfully.

"Not when my first time is on a slippery, marble banister that's five stories up!" The four of them had moved up to the top level of the Clayworth mansion and Addie had to admit, it _was_ a long, winding way down, but what better to way to start off a party than this?

Addie couldn't help but bust out in laughter at Hermione's innuendo.

"Oh stop! That is _not_ what I meant!"

"Maybe you should go with a partner then. Ron, perhaps?" Addie suggested, Harry smirked.

"I think that is a fantastic idea! Ron, hop on!" Harry said.

Ron happily climbed onto the banister, looking eagerly at Hermione, "No! No! NO!"

Hermione yelled, "I will not do it!"

"Hermione," Addie said seriously, "I will not go down to my party unless you slide down this banister."

Looking defeated, Hermione climbed onto the banister in front of Ron and he wrapped his arms firmly around her middle. They both blushed profusely; Addie raised her eyebrows at Harry, he gave her a wink.

"I'll give you a push," he said helpfully, "One…two…three!" Harry pushed Ron forward and the two took off down the banister, Ron laughing and Hermione screaming for her life. As they got farther away, her screams became fainter until they couldn't be heard anymore.

"Well, let's go," Addie said, making to go down the stairs. Harry stopped her.

"I think it's your turn," he said, motioning at the banister.

Addie shook her head, "Are you kidding? I've never done that before. It was just a clever way to get them near each other…"

"You little sneak."

Before she even knew what had happened, Harry threw her up on the banister, jumping up behind her, and kicking off with his foot. They were going fast and Addie screamed, partially in delight and partially because she was terrified. She had never noticed before how far the top floor of her house was from the bottom floor. If they so much as leaned the wrong way, they would fall, surely to their death.

What a horrible way to die…

But even in the possible face of death, she had never felt so alive. She was so carefree in that moment, it was as if nothing bad had ever happened to her; that night at the ministry never happened. She was still pure, she wasn't a murderer.

She heard Harry roar with laughter as they rounded the third floor landing, and she knew that he was feeling the same carefree feeling as she was. If they could just slide down that banister forever, they would never have to deal with the troubles of the world ever again.

If only…

Soon, they flew off the end and soared through the air, landing face-down with two loud thuds on the foyer floor. After lying still for a moment, Addie rolled over on her back and broke out in a fit a laughter. Harry soon joined her, and Ron and Hermione stood over them, looking at them like they were lunatics.

"That was great!" Addie laughed, "Fantastic!" Harry got to his feet, and then helped Addie up.

"Our landing could use some work, though," Harry replied.

"I do hope that you are having a good time," a voice came from behind Addie. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was; she rolled her eyes, he was not going to ruin this party for her, not before it even started.

She turned to look at her father, who was standing with Lucius and Draco. They were wearing identical robes: black and long, Death Eater robes; they could have at least changed before they arrived at the party, perhaps they had been planning on it, not expecting the four of them to be in the foyer.

"Don't worry. I am."

"Can I ask why the four of you are sliding down my very expensive pure marble banister?"

"Well for fun, obviously," The three men scoffed at them, causing Addie to roll her eyes, "Of course, I wouldn't expect any you to understand that."

Her father glared at her, "I do not care that it's your birthday, I will not have you disresp-"

A pop emitted from the fireplace in the sitting room, cutting her father off mid-sentence. It must have been time for guests to start arriving, spoiling whatever plan her father had for punishment.

"There's my favorite girl!" A redhead exclaimed, walking into the foyer. Mitch, Lucius, and Draco all looked in disgust at the family who just walked into the Clayworth house. Addie smiled, knowing it was turning her father's insides to have such people in his house.

Addie smiled, "There's my favorite Weasley," she heard Ron clear his throat behind her, "…twin. Weasley twin." Ron looked pleased.

George scooped her up into a hug, swinging her around. Addie squealed in delight; she loved George.

He sat her down, "Happy Birthday, my love," he said, kissing her hand. Addie felt herself blush a little, and she also saw a hint of jealously wash over Draco's face, which strangely satisfied her. "Save me a dance?" he asked.

"Of course."

George walked farther into the house, "My brother is quite in love with you," Fred said, greeting Addie. She smirked to herself as more jealously crossed Draco's face.

Deciding to play up his jealously she replied, "And I, with him."

* * *

"Presents now, or later?" Claire asked her daughter. All of the twenty-some guests sat at a long table set up under large tent in the garden. The tent was decorated with purple and silver streamers. Thousands of twinkling lights lined the ceiling, illuminating everyone's faces; everyone looked more beautiful in this light.

"Now, of course," Addie replied happily. She was seated between Harry and George Weasley, chatting excitedly with them. Claire couldn't help but notice the way Draco was looking at her daughter from down the other side of the table. So silly, that boy was, to think that her mother wouldn't see it; a mother sees everything, even if she doesn't admit it.

Claire waved her wand, and the desserts that everyone had been feasting on disappeared and Addie's pile of presents appeared in front of her. It was such a large pile, and it was going to get even bigger, once the rest of her school friends got there; the dinner was for the adults and closest friends in Addie's life. The after party was for everyone else.

Addie opened each of her presents with care, truly taking time to appreciate all of the gifts that she was being given. Claire was grateful for having such a caring, thoughtful child and smiled to herself as she watched her open each of her presents.

"Remus, two?" Addie asked, looking to her godfather quizzically. She knew Remus couldn't afford to spoil her so much; he could barely take care of himself.

"You deserve it," he smiled. He was such a good man.

She unwrapped the tiny box first. A small grey box emerged; Addie knew what it was, looking at the charm bracelet on her left wrist; he had been getting her a charm every year for her birthday since she was born.

A small, silver charm, shaped like a dog was inside. Addie smiled, "It's Sirius…"

"I thought it was appropriate given everything that's happened…" he trailed off.

"It's beautiful," she immediately added it to her bracelet, the fifteen other charms gleaming in the light.

"The next one isn't much…I just though you would like it," he said.

Addie unwrapped a brown album with gold trim. On the front, written in gold was _Adrienne Lily_. She traced her finger over her name, pausing over her middle name; she smiled at the tribute to her mother's fallen best friend. Harry smiled next to her as well.

She opened the album, and Claire cast a charm, so everyone at the table could see the pictures. The first picture was a baby picture of her with her mother. There were a few more of Claire and her coveted baby girl. There was another baby picture of Addie with Remus. On the next page, a there was a photo of two children, a girl and a boy, in a kiddie pool, both looking to be about a year old. The girl poured a cup of water over the boy's head, and in return, he pushed her over.

"That's you and me, kid," she looked at Harry, who was laughing at his one year old self.

"Pure evil, even then," he joked.

Addie flipped through more pages. There were more pictures of her as an infant, in many of them she was with Claire, Remus, and Sirius; there were several more of her with Harry, Lily and James. All of the infant pictures seemed to be taken within a span of a few weeks the summer that she and Harry turned a year old.

In the next picture, they were at the beach. Addie sat in a pink swimsuit, facing Harry, who was wearing blue trunks. Sirius sat behind Addie, and James behind his son, and they laughed as Addie plopped a sand bucket on Harry's head, who then took it off and slammed it to the ground, crying.

Addie nearly died of laughter, as did everyone else at the table.

"Evil, I'm telling you," Harry said.

"That was the last time you saw them," Claire said, who had come to stand behind her daughter, "They went into hiding the next day."

Addie and Harry looked at each other, regretfully.

The pictures became more spread out after that, racing through the years; Addie could tell that Remus had to ask Hermione for some of them, as many were taken at Hogwarts.

Finally, she came to the last picture of the album. It was taken at last Christmas; she, Harry, and Sirius were laughing on the couch at Grimmauld Place. That was the last time either of them saw Sirius.

She felt some tears weld up in her eyes, and saw that Harry was having a difficult time choking back his own tears. Addie put her head on his shoulder, wiping away a few of her tears; he wrapped his arm around he shoulder, pulling her close to him, so he could bury his face in the top of her head, hiding his tears from everyone around them.

Draco glared at them from his spot at the table.


	3. Chapter 3

**_"Secret love, my escape, take me far, far away; secret love, are you there? Will you answer my prayer? Please take me anywhere but here…"_**

Music blared through the garden. Where there was once a long table less than an hour before, there was now a large dance floor, with several small round tables surrounding it. Addie's friends filed in one by one and it was starting to get quite crowded. She greeted each one, many of whom had traveled from far away by Floo powder, as they entered the party.

In her travels with her mother, Addie had met a lot of friends from all over the world. She considered herself lucky to have met such wonderful people that were willing to travel so far to celebrate her birthday with her.

"Just because they're twins, it doesn't mean that they want to date another pair of twins!" Addie called to Fred and George, who were in the process of stalking a pair of twins that she met while she was in France.

"Are you jealous, Addie?" George asked, "Don't worry, babe, I'm still saving a special dance for you."

Addie laughed and rolled her eyes at him.

From the corner of her eye, Addie caught sight of white hair, and turned to see Draco stalking off to the side of the house. She followed him.

"What are you doing?" she asked, a bit of anger in her voice. He hadn't even said as much as 'Happy Birthday' to her all night.

He turned to face her, "Well I figured I'd get out of there before you started cuddling Potter again."

Addie felt somewhat satisfied with the jealously in his voice and held back a smirk, "What are you talking about?"

"What the hell was that at the table? Didn't anyone ever teach you about privacy?"

"Didn't anyone ever teach you how to speak to a lady?" she retorted, earning no response from him, "And in case you didn't know, those pictures mean something to both of us. It was a little emotional for us to see them. I knew Harry wouldn't want the whole table to see him cry, so I gave him an out until he could calm himself."

Draco scoffed, "Do you expect me to believe that?"

"Yes, I do! I would do the same for you if you ever, God forbid, showed some emotion, you know, other than anger!"

"Well excuse me for not being a fairy-"

Addie couldn't help but laugh, "Draco, shut up."

He let a smirk cross his lips, "Excuse me?"

"I said, shut up," she continued laughing.

He looked at her skeptically, like he just couldn't see what was so funny, "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she said, calming herself.

"I guess you're wondering why you didn't get a present from me."

She wasn't going to ask, but it had been a bit strange; all of those presents that she had opened earlier, and not one of them was from Draco…

"A bit."

He pulled a tiny box out of his pocket and handed it to her, "Well, here."

Addie opened it; inside was a simple necklace. The chain was silver, and on it was a small, single, sparkling ruby. It was exactly her taste, simple, yet elegant.

"It's beautiful," Addie smiled, she could feel her cheeks blushing.

Draco smiled slightly, glad that she liked it. She handed the necklace to him and turned, moving her hair so he could put it on for her. He lightly strung it round her neck, pausing for a moment to take in the scent of her hair. Addie turned around, looking up at him.

"How do I look?"

"Great," he croaked, clearing his throat, "You always look great."

They both blushed red, "So," Addie said, stepping back a bit, "I don't suppose you could do one more thing for me, it being my birthday, and all…"

"What's that?" he asked.

"Dance with me?" 

* * *

Draco held a hand out to Addie when they reached the edge of the dance floor, and as if on cue, the last song ended, and a slow song began. She laughed loudly; it had to be the most gentleman-ly she had ever seen him do.

Everyone seemed to stop and stare at the two new additions to the dance floor as Addie took his hand, allowing him to pull her close. Harry sat with Ron and Hermione at a table, taking a break from dancing. Addie looked at them and smiled excitedly, but Harry stiffened and made to rise from his seat. Hermione slapped his arm and yanked him back down, she gave Addie a cautionary smile.

Addie wrapped her arms around Draco's neck, and he placed his hands low on her hips, causing her heartbeat to pick up. They looked deep into each other's eyes, "Everyone is acting like they've never seen us together before."

"Well a lot of them haven't. No fault of my own," she replied.

"Ouch," he said, sounding the slightest bit hurt.

"Sorry. It's just, most of the time when we're at school, you act like we don't know each other."

"I know," he sounded remorseful.

They swayed to the music, without speaking for a while. His scent burned at her nostrils, intoxicating her; it was spicy, and nothing in the entire world smelled as good as he did, she was sure of it.

"You're a good person, Draco."

"Why do you say that?"

"I know that's why you joined him, to save your family, because you love them."

Draco shrugged.

"You can't fool me. I know that you can love. I think you might even love Crabbe and Goyle."

He laughed aloud, "That is pushing it."

"Pansy?"

He made a face, "Now you're just messing with me."

"Me?"

Draco cheeks turned red hot, and Addie felt her own cheeks flush as well, "Well, of course."

Addie smiled at him, and then felt a jolting pain in her head. She stepped back from Draco, putting a hand on his chest, steadying herself. From somewhere in the distance, she heard him call her name, but she felt as though she was no longer in her own head. It felt like she was drifting away, father and father away from her party…

_The room was dark. The only colors in sight were the darkest blacks and grays. Candles burned, hanging in midair, providing a bit of light for the room, making everything glow eerily._

Someone sat in the corner.

"I do appreciate you getting back to me as soon as possible, Draco," the figure spoke.

"Of course, my Lord."

Lord Voldemort stood, emerging from the shadows, "I take it that you have accepted my offer?"

"I have, my Lord."

"Then give to me your arm, Draco."

Addie's mind went blank. 

* * *

"Damn it, Malfoy, what did you do to her?"

Both Harry and Draco had their wands drawn at each other's throats when Addie awoke. Someone had carried her into the living room and placed her on the couch. She could feel people around her, fussing over her. As much as she didn't want to, she had to open her eyes.

Addie opened her eyes and got up immediately, "I need you," she said, pointing to Draco before he or Harry could curse the other.

"Addie, I don't think-"

"Harry, stop it," she snapped, grabbing Draco's hand and pulling him to the stairs. They needed to speak alone. Completely alone.

She led him to her father's study, the only room in the house where she knew they could speak without anyone hearing them; it was enchanted with a very powerful silencing charm

Draco looked at her, confused. He was well aware that Mitch forbade her from entering the room, "They have those damn Extendable Ears," she said, "If we went anywhere else, they'd be able to hear us," as soon as Addie shut the door, it locked automatically.

"Tell me what just happened, Addie, you really worried me," he said, concerned.

She wanted to melt from the amount of concern that was in his voice, but unwillingly forced those thoughts from the mind, "Tell me what you were thinking about."

"What?"

"Please, just tell me what you were thinking about!"

"I was thinking about what you had just asked me," he said.

"About if you loved me?"

He nodded, "And about why I shouldn't…"

"Why shouldn't you?" He gestured towards his left arm, "Were you thinking about getting branded?" He nodded again, "I…I don't want you to freak out…but I think that I read your mind."

"I didn't know you knew legilimency…"

"I don't."

Draco stepped back from her, looking almost frightened. She didn't want him to be afraid of her. Seeing him look at her like that brought tears to her eyes, "Don't cry, Addie. I'm sure this is some kind of random thing."

" I guess I'm going to have to talk to Dumbledore about it. If anyone were to know what is going on, it would be him," she couldn't help but notice how Draco flinched when she said Dumbledore's name.

Draco nodded slowly, "I'm sorry that you had to see me get this. I don't want you to be afraid."

"I'm not going to pretend that it doesn't bother me," Addie began, "But I know why you did it, and I care for you, and I won't leave you to go through it alone."

Draco moved close to her, caressing her cheek; she didn't look into his eyes again, for fear she might see something that didn't want to, "You can look at me; if something happened, you'd only see yourself."

Addie so badly wanted to kiss him, but couldn't; if she did, she wasn't sure that she would ever be able to stop. Instead, she told him that they had to get back downstairs.

"Addie," he asked, worried, "What are you going to tell them? You can't tell them about me…"

She put herself close to him again, intertwining the fingers of her left hand with his, and putting her other on his chest. To get herself closer to his height, she stood on her toes and brought her lips within centimeters of his, "Have I ever told you their secrets?" he shook his head, unable to speak because of the proximity of their lips, "Then why would I tell them yours?" 

* * *

The last of the guests had left when Addie and Draco arrived back downstairs. Those who remained sat in the living room, greeting the two of them with unhappy expressions. Their expressions didn't lighten when they noticed that Draco had an arm placed firmly around her waist.

They stood in the living room in front of everyone for a moment before anyone spoke.

"Draco, we are leaving now," Lucius spoke.

He nodded at his father, giving Addie's side a squeeze before following Lucius out of the room. Mitch went with them.

"What in the hell, Addie?" Claire asked.

"What mother?" she snapped. Normally Addie didn't take a tone with her mother, but there was something accusatory in the way that Claire spoke.

"That's unnecessary," Remus spoke.

Addie slunk down onto the couch, realizing how mentally exhausted she was. She rested her head in her hand, not wanting to look at anyone. When she had been with Draco, she didn't realize how angry she really was about what had happened to her; being near him seemed to have some kind of calming effect on her. But now she realized how truly unfair it was. Why did this have to happen now, when she was going through so many other things?

"You owe us an explanation," Claire said.

"God dammit," she slammed her hands on the coffee table in front of her, "I read his mind."

"That's impossible," Hermione said.

"No it bloody well isn't, Hermione, because I did."

"What did you see, Addie?" Remus asked.

She thought a moment, unsure of what to say. She needed to settle on a memory that would be equally upsetting as the one that she had really seen, without revealing Draco's secret.

"I guess I may as well just show you."

* * *

Claire retrieved her pensieve from the bedroom she shared with her husband. She placed it on the coffee table in the living room.

"Can I use your wand, Mum?" Addie asked.

Carefully, Addie thought of the memory of being in Borgin and Burkes a few days earlier. It was believable, she thought, that Draco would be thinking of it. After all, the cut on her face had not yet healed over. She put the wand to her temple, extracting the memory. It floated into the pensieve and colors filled the basin.

She stepped back from it; she wasn't going to go in. One by one, Claire, Remus, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all dipped their faces in and disappeared.

Addie sat on the couch, and cried, half because she didn't really want them to see her being abused and half because it was a complete lie. Lying to the people she loved was not something that Addie enjoyed doing.

But what was she to do? She wouldn't tell them Draco was a Death Eater.

They came out after about ten minutes, and each of them looked distraught. Even Claire, who was well aware of the punishments that Addie received from Mitch, but she had never seen it before, and that made all of the difference.

Hermione was crying, which didn't settle Addie's tears any. Harry looked as though he were going to murder someone, Ron looked stunned, and Remus looked to be on the verge of fainting.

Addie couldn't take it. The guilt that she was feeling was beginning to close in on her; it felt as though she was being crushed. She couldn't stay there with them for a second longer; she ran through the house and out the back door, across the garden and past the remnants of her party.

Farther and father she ran, off of her property, away from everything, until the house was nothing but a speck of light behind her. Finally, she sat down in the open field and cried, alone. All alone.


	4. Chapter 4

**_"I will never let you fall, I'll stand up with you forever; I'll be there for you through it all, Even if saving you sends me to heaven..."_**

There were birds chirping in the distance.

Addie stirred on the grass and dirt that she lay upon, wondering why an earthy scent filled her nostrils, and wondering why there were damn birds chirping in her room. Eyes still closed, she rolled onto her back and stretched her arms above her head, questioning also why she was so stiff.

Then she realized that the light that was shining through her eyelids was much too bright to be coming through her curtained window. Her eyes shot open and she sat up straight. She was in the field that she had cried in the night before.

There was only one word that crossed her mind:

_Shit._

* * *

It took Addie much longer to get back home than it had taken her to get to the field the night before, the main reason for this, she believed, was that she feared what she would be facing when she got back to the house. Upon stepping foot into the house, it appeared to be empty, and she breathed a temporary sigh of relief.

She tiptoed to the stairs, careful to not make any noise, seeing that the clock on the kitchen wall read 7:30; it was very likely that both of her parents were upstairs sleeping. When she reached the third floor landing, she did not turn immediately to her left, to the hall that led to her own bedroom, but continued down the hall towards her parent's suite.

The large, oak double doors were slightly ajar and she slipped carefully inside. Quietly, she walked down the entry hall of the suite, so as to not wake them, should they be sleeping there. Soon, she turned the corner, and their large, four-poster bed came into view. And it was empty.

To be absolutely sure that she was alone, Addie had a quick look in the bathroom. That, as well, was empty.

Now that she knew she was alone, she made her way to her own room and quickly showered and dressed. She looked longingly at her bed as she walked past it on her way out, wishing she could just crawl in and sleep after her night on the hard ground, but she had to find her mother before she found herself in more trouble than she was surely already in.

When she reached the kitchen again, she noticed a snowy white owl perched outside the large window above the sink.

Addie opened the window and let her in, "Hey, Hedwig," she said, petting the owl on the head and untying the note attached to her leg, "Here you go," Addie handed her a treat from a cabinet, and she hooted happily before flying away.

She opened the envelope and saw the familiar writing of her friend:

_We're at headquarters. Your mother is pissed._

Harry

* * *

Addie stood, staring at the large, gothic-looking front door of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. She had been staring at the worn brass doorknob for several minutes, reluctant to face the wrath of her mother that would be on the other side of the heavy door.

Delicately, she turned the knob and slipped into the dark hallway. Though it was the end of a dangerously hot July, the house felt damp and cool, and Addie shivered under her thin cotton t-shirt.

At the end of the long hallway, Addie could see a light on in the kitchen, and shadows moving under the door. A lump formed in her throat as she slowly walked forward. She didn't know who she would come face to face with when she opened the door, but whoever it was, she knew they would be angry.

Bracing herself, Addie took a deep breath and opened the door.

The eyes of her mother and her three friends landed on her as she made herself visible in the doorway. For a moment, they just sort of stared at her, and she felt particularly awkward with so many different sets of eyes on her.

"Addie," Harry said, raising from his seat at the table, and pulling her into a tight embrace, "we were all worried about you."

She hugged him back loosely, "Well I'm perfectly fine…"

"Well, I suppose all should just be forgiven then, because you're perfectly fine," Claire snapped from the corner of the room. Addie winced at her mother's harsh tone and let go of Harry. "You have some nerve," Claire continued, walking towards Addie, "to show up here, like nothing has happened, like you've done nothing wrong."

Addie hung her head, staring at her feet. She did feel terrible about running away, but she hadn't meant to fall asleep in the field. That had been a complete accident, "I'm sorry," she said, simply.

"Oh, you're _sorry_. Did you hear that, you three," she said to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, all of whom looked as if they should leave the room, "she's _sorry_. I suppose that should make up for all of the worry she caused us all night…"

"Mum…"

"Where did you go, Addie?" Claire snapped, ignoring her.

Addie shuffled her feet over the dull, worn floor, "I just ran."

"Ran to where?"

"Just some field."

Claire gave Addie a patronizing look, "And you just happened to stay there all night?"

"Yeah," Addie replied, watching anger bubble to her mother's face.

"You are just damn lucky that your father never came home or-"

"Or what, mother?" Addie interrupted, "You would have turned me over to him for punishment, so he could slice my face with his wand a few more times and give me a couple more crucios?" She felt angry at Claire; how could she threaten Addie with her father, after seeing that memory? How could she be okay with him doing that to her daughter, especially after _seeing_ him do it.

Claire shook her head, her expression softening, realizing her mistake, "Addie, no. I didn't mean that.."

"If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have said it," she snapped, harshly.

"I was just angry, Addie."

Addie glared daggers at her mother. Though she loved her very much, Addie sometimes felt that her relationship with Claire was very strained, due very much to the fact that Claire was quite aware of the abuse Addie endured from her father and did nothing to stop it.

The two women stood in the middle of the kitchen, staring at each other, oblivious to the other three people in the room with them, until Hermione stood up slowly and spoke, "Addie, perhaps we should go upstairs," she motioned towards the door.

After one final, piercing look at her mother, Addie turned on her heel and stalked off, Hermione running along behind her.

* * *

Sirius' bedroom had been dormant since the night he died; no one from the Order had wanted to enter it since then, out of respect for their friend.

Harry, however, felt a strange pull toward the room as he walked past the door on his way to the bedroom that he and Ron were to occupy for the rest of the summer. It was as if there was some kind of unknown presence in there, beckoning him to enter. He traced a finger over the letters engraved on the door that spelled out his godfather's name.

He slowly turned the doorknob, allowing the door open.

The room appeared to be in the same state as it was the day Sirius died. The bed was unmade and clothes were on the floor. Laughing to himself, Harry noted how much like a teenage boy Sirius had been, to the very day he died. He bent down and picked up a shirt from the floor, noticing that it still carried the scent of Sirius' cologne. Harry couldn't help but let a few tears fall as he let the shirt fall back to the floor and walked deeper into the room.

In front of a large window was a desk. It was mostly empty, except for two pieces of parchment that sat next to one another, a quill lying on top of one of the pieces of parchment, and an open bottle of ink. The pieces of parchment, Harry saw, were letters. Curiously, he picked up the first one and began to read. He couldn't help but notice how similar the neat, slanted cursive was to Addie's.

_Sirius,_

I regret that I can't come see you to talk to you about this in person, but Dumbledore has me in Cairo for the time being. I know why you are concerned for Addie, but I hope that you can understand why I am going to have to tell you once again that we need not tell her about this. There is no need to worry her about something that is likely not to happen. She already has so much to worry about with Harry, and I am not about to throw something else at her that she needs to worry about. I know that you and Remus want the best possible life for her, but right now, what is best for her is this current arrangement. However, I promise to you that at the first sign that this is beginning to emerge, I will tell her immediately. For now, though, I need you to trust me that her mother knows best.

All my love,  
Claire

Harry reread the letter a couple times, confused, trying to decipher what it meant. What secret were they keeping from Addie? And Lupin was in on it, too? He felt a bit angry. Some of the people that his best friend loved the most were keeping some kind of big secret from her, and she had no idea.

He folded the letter up and put it in his pocket, making a mental note to get Lupin and Claire alone so he could question them. Then he turned to the next letter, which was undoubtedly Sirius' reply to Claire's letter.

_Claire,_

I have to wholeheartedly disagree with you. This has been kept from her for nearly sixteen years, and it is time that she knows the truth. I will not lie to her any longer. When she comes home from Hogwarts for the summer we will tell her tog-

The letter abruptly ended there, leaving Harry even more confused. He looked at the abrupt ending of the letter, and wondered if maybe, he had been in the process of writing this very letter when he learned that Harry and Addie were at the ministry battling Death Eaters.

Harry felt a twinge of guilt at that thought. If it hadn't been for that false vision that Voldemort had placed in his head, Sirius would still be alive…

Carefully, he folded the letter with his godfather's writing, placing it in the same pocket as the letter from Claire. "Harry?" he heard a voice behind him. He turned to see Ron and Hermione standing in the doorway, "What are you doing in here?"

Harry cleared his throat, "Uh, nothing. Just…remembering him…"

Ron gave him a solemn look, "Dumbledore's here, mate," he said, holding up an Extendable Ear, "He's talking to Addie in the sitting room."

* * *

"Your mother tells me a curious thing happened while you were dancing with Mister Malfoy at your birthday party last night," Dumbledore said, giving Addie a weary smile, "Would you like to talk about that?"

Addie sat down next to the old wizard and nodded, "I think you may be the only person that can possibly make any sense of it."

He chuckled lightly, "We will have to see about that. Now, tell me, you believe that you read his mind? Why do you believe that?"

Addie dropped her gaze away from the Headmaster's eyes and told him what she "saw" inside of her head, hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell that every word that had just came out of her mouth was a lie. If he had noticed, he didn't make it known to her.

Dumbledore went into deep thought for several minutes, his eyes locked on a portrait of the Black family that hung above the fireplace.  
Finally, he spoke, his voice even, "I think," he said, raising from his seat on the couch, "That for the time being, this is not something that needs to be worried about."

He made for the door and Addie stood up, following after him, "That's it sir? You are just going to tell me that I need not worry about it for now?"

"I do think so," he said, "Now, if you will please excuse me, I must speak with your mother."

* * *

Draco Malfoy wished that just once he would be allowed to sleep in past nine o'clock.

His father's voice radiated through the house, calling his name. Sighing, Draco climbed out of his bed, and made his way over to his dresser, pulling out his familiar black button up and a pair of black slacks.

He traced his fingers over the ugly black mark on his arm before pulling his shirt on. It was because of that horrible mark he had to wear long sleeves in the blistering summer heat. Just before he left his bedroom, he slipped his feet into his shiny black shoes.

After wandering the house, Draco found his father in his study on the second floor, "You called, father?"

"Yes, Draco. Do come in," he said, motioning for his son to enter the room. Draco did as he was told, and Lucius waved his wand, shutting and locking the door behind him. Draco dreaded the sound of that door locking, knowing that this wasn't just a friendly, father-son talk; it was about business.

But of course, when was it not business with Lucius Malfoy?

"What happened with Adrienne last night?" Draco sighed, at least he got right to the point.

"She passed out," Draco said flatly, knowing this this would not be an acceptable answer for his father.

"Do not lie to me," Lucius said, bringing his face close to Draco's.

If it had been anyone else, he would have given up their secret up at his father's threat. However, this was about Addie, and she certainly wasn't just someone to him. He wasn't exactly sure how he knew, but he just knew that whatever happened to her last night was something very serious, something that the Dark Lord didn't need to know

"I do not know what happened to her."

"Lying will get you nowhere, Draco," Lucius said, pulling out his wand. The fact that his father was so determined to find out what had happened to Addie confirmed Draco's belief that it was something serious.

"I do not know."

He felt the curse hit him and fell to his knees in pain. No one but Addie was worth this horrible pain. After a few seconds of pain, the curse lifted and Draco gasped for breath.

"What happened to her?" Lucius asked, sounding triumphant. He didn't believe his son would take any more pain to protect her.

Draco refused to give her up. He felt the curse hit him again.


	5. Chapter 5

_**And I think she's pretty, but pretty's just part of the things she does that amaze me; and she calls me sweetheart; I love it when she wakes me when it's still dark; and she watches the sun, but she's the only one I have my eyes on…**_

Harry sat alone at the desk in Sirius' bedroom. The newly risen sun was casting a warm, bright glow across the old, dark room, making it seem almost inviting. He yawned, running his hands through his messy dark hair; it was too early for him to be awake, yet he couldn't help it, all summer long he hadn't gone to bed until well after one, and hadn't slept in past seven.

Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that every time he slept, he dreamed of Sirius' death. Yeah, that must have been it.

He had taken to sleeping in Sirius' room, using the excuse that Ron's snoring had gotten progressively worse over the years, so no one would know how little he had been sleeping as of late.

The door opened slightly, and Addie poked her head in, "Harry?"

Harry swiveled the desk chair around, "Hey," he said, smiling at his friend. She stepped fully into the room. She was wearing a pair of red plaid pajama shorts and a white tank top; her dark brown hair was up in a messy bun, a few stray pieces fell from it, framing her face. Harry blushed slightly at her attire, trying quite unsuccessfully, not to stare. After all, he was a teenage boy…

Quickly, he shook those kind of thoughts from his head.

"Up early again, huh?" she said, walking over to him and sitting herself on the bed across from where he was seated in the chair.

Clearing his throat, Harry replied, "What? Oh, it's nothing…"

"I know you've been getting up this early, Harry," she replied, "I've only been here four days and I know that."

Harry stared at her, "How did you know that?"

Addie shrugged, "I just knew somehow… must be that best friends since birth connection, you know, minus the ten years you were with those muggles…"

"Yeah," Harry laughed, "but you're up, too, I might add."

"Well," Addie said, smiling weakly, pulling a package out from behind her back, and handing it to him, "That's why I'm here. Tomorrow is your birthday, and I'm leaving today, remember?"

Harry wasn't sure how she had managed to hide the present behind her thin frame when she walked in, not that it was a big package, but she didn't have much on her to hid it behind, "Right, you're going with _them_."

Addie cringed a bit at his accusatory tone, like she really wanted to leave her best friend the day before his birthday, but there was not much she could do about it. Shortly after Claire's talk with Dumbledore four days ago, she took off again, on yet another mission.

And that meant that Mitch was in charge of her. Truthfully, Addie was surprised that he had allowed her to remain at Grimmauld for so long, but of course, he couldn't be nice enough to let her stay one extra day for Harry's birthday. No, that would just be too much.

"I'm sorry, Harry. Apparently the Malfoys and my father are anxiously awaiting my arrival to the villa in Morocco. You know, so the family bonding can get started," Addie laughed to herself for a moment, as a vision of her father and Lucius lounging in swimming trunks on a beach with her and Draco entered her mind. The sight was ridiculous; she had never seen her father in a short-sleeved shirt, let alone a swimming suit…

Harry scoffed, "I could have taken you to Morocco, if that's where you wanted to spend the rest of your summer."

"Now, you are just being obnoxious," Addie said to her friend, "now my portkey leaves in an hour and I still have to get ready, so can you please open your gift?"

His eyes shifted down to the gift in his hands and he tore back the paper quickly. Inside, he found some familiar faces looking up at him, "It's not much, really, but I saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw this at my party, and I thought you might like a copy," Addie said shyly, she hated giving people gifts. It always felt awkward, "But the frame is genuine, handcrafted, goblin-made silver and the glass is reinforced, so it doesn't get broken in travel to and from school…" Addie babbled on, hoping that Harry didn't think she had skimped on his present.

He smiled at the faces of James and Sirius, holding the infant versions of he and Addie. They truly had been best friends since birth. Gently, he grabbed Addie's tiny wrist, she was still babbling on about how horrible she thought the gift was, and had started taking it away from him, insisting that she would bring him something much better from Morocco, "I love it, Addie."

She stopped, "You don't have to say that."

"But I really do. This means much more to me than anything anyone else could get me. It's hard to find pictures of my family, you know?"

"Well I'm glad you like it."

"I love it."

Addie smiled, "Well good," she stood, "I really must be getting ready now. If I show up there looking like this, I may be cursed on the spot."

Harry nodded, and she quickly left the room, leaving Harry to look at the small snapshot of his past.

* * *

"Be sure to send us owls as often as you can," Hermione said, giving Addie a hug.

Ron added, "Yeah, make sure you tell us if those Malfoys are mistreating you."

Addie laughed, "I'll try," she didn't want to tell them, but she honestly wasn't sure when she would be able to send them anything. Her father never made it easy for her to contact her fellow Gryffindors when he was in charge. In the past, he had been known to intercept her owl whenever it came bearing a letter to her.

"Are you sure you have to go?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Addie said, pulling him into a hug, "Happy birthday. And er…tell my mum that I love her, whenever she gets back."

At the mention of Claire, Harry remembered the letters he had found in Sirius' bedroom. They were still tucked away in his pocket and had been completely forgotten about since Harry discovered them four days ago. With Claire's sudden departure, he had been unable to get her and Lupin together to question it, "I will," he replied quietly.

Suddenly, the candle on the kitchen table began to glow with a blue light, and Addie grabbed it quickly, "I'll see you on the train," she said, with one final look at her three friends. Then she was pulled forward into the candle, and in the next second, she was gone.

After a moment, Ron yawned, stretching his hands above his head and made his way out of the kitchen and back up towards his bedroom, where he would sleep again until a more decent hour.

"She'll be fine," Hermione said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder. She knew how much he hated when Addie was forced to spend time with the Malfoys, away from him, where he couldn't protect her from their cruelties, "I actually think Draco quite fancies her, from what she tells me…"

"Please, if it came down to protecting himself or Addie, you and I both know that he'd pick himself. The selfish git."

"He's much different than what we see at Hogwarts," Hermione reasoned.

Harry rolled his eyes, "She just doesn't want to see how evil he truly is."

Hermione didn't reply. Though Draco wasn't her favorite person, she trusted Addie's judgment with him. She knew her friend, and Addie was not one to deliberately look for the good in someone; if Addie said that Draco truly was a good person, she believed her, whether Harry wanted to or not.

"Listen, Hermione, I found something the other day," Harry said, pulling the two letters from his pocket, "I was hoping you could make some kind of sense of it."

He watched as Hermione read each letter, a wrinkle forming between her eyebrows, one that meant she was thinking really hard. Finally, after thoroughly reading each letter several times, she spoke, "Well it does appear that there is some kind of secret being kept from Addie."

"I'm going to ask Claire and Lupin about it when Claire gets back."

Hermione shook her head, "No, Harry. Don't stick your nose into a place where it doesn't belong."

In shock, Harry stared at her, she was one to talk about getting into someone else's business, "Hermione, they're lying to her."

"Harry, it might be for the best. Maybe this is something that can really hurt her."

"But…"

"Stop it. This is between Claire and Addie. If it is something important, then Claire will tell her when she is ready. Until then, let it be."

"Hermione…"

"Let it be, Harry," Hermione snapped, "Just let it be."

* * *

Just as everything else the Malfoys did, the villa they rented in Morocco was elaborate. It had a sprawling, open floor plan and was built so that the large, outdoor garden, furnished with palm trees and all, was in the center of all sides of the house. Throughout the house, the wall which faced the garden was made completely of glass, so no matter where one was, they always had a view of the tranquil garden.

A walk down a palm tree lined path lead to a large pool, surrounded with sand instead of concrete, to give it a beach-y feel. Of course, if one preferred the beach, all they would have to do was walk about a quarter of a mile father down the palm tree path, which lead right to the turquoise ocean.

Addie spent a good hour exploring the villa and its grounds before she ever came in contact with a member of the Malfoy family. The place was so large that Addie bet, if she wanted, she could go her entire month long stay without ever seeing any of them. Actually, if it weren't for the fact that she recognized the house elves that helped her with her things when she first arrived, Addie would have thought she was in the wrong place.

After a pleasant walk down on the beach, Addie walked back up to the house and entered the kitchen through the sliding glass door, where she met the thin, blonde haired figure of Narcissa Malfoy. Narcissa had obviously been off in the city shopping, for she had just heaved a piled of bags onto the floor, which the house elves began tending to immediately.

Narcissa jumped when Addie cleared her throat from the doorway, making her presence known.

"Oh, Adrienne. You gave me a fright," she said, breathing a sigh of relief, "You must forgive me for not being her when you arrived. It was getting much too lonely here, what with Lucius and Draco gone…"

"Draco isn't here?" Addie asked, slightly alarmed.

Narcissa shook her head, "But don't worry, they should be back in a few hours, and your father will be back tomorrow, he had some business…" she said, then quickly changed the subject, "Did the house elves show you to your room?"

"They took my things up there, but I haven't seen it yet; I've been looking around."

"Well go have a look," Narcissa said, as she began to leave the room, "and Addie," she added, turning around to look at her, "I have to say, I begged them not to bring you here."

Addie looked at her a moment, a bit taken aback, "Oh, I'm sorry. I always thought you liked me just fine…"

"No, that isn't it," she said gravely, "Look, whatever happened between you and Draco on your birthday…I really shouldn't say anything…but you should be very weary of who you share that information with. They are…very interested in what happened…I shouldn't say more, but just keep that information close…"

Addie couldn't get her mouth to form the words that she wanted to speak. It was very odd, Narcissa giving her a warning; usually she never spoke anything against her husband. If he were to hear that she had given Addie a warning, it would not go over well with him, that much was sure.

"I will…keep that in mind," Addie finally said.

And with that, Narcissa seemed pleased, and left Addie alone in the kitchen.

* * *

Addie could already feel her pale skin soaking up the sun, though she had only been by the pool for a little over an hour. In that hour, Addie had decided that she wanted to spend as much time as she could in that spot in the sand next to the pool. It was as if she were in paradise, that nothing back in England even existed. This was perfect.

"Having a nice time?" Addie sat up on her towel in the sand and turned to see Draco standing behind her. He was wearing his usual black, long sleeved button up; Addie could just see the heat seeping into it. He was, at least, wearing a pair of cargo shorts.

She smiled, moving over on the towel to make room for him, "Quite nice," she said, patting the space next to her.

Draco obliged, and took a seat, "When did you arrive?"

Laying back down, Addie adjusted her bikini top, "Three hours ago, maybe."

"Nice trip?" he asked.

"Oh yes, you know how I love traveling by portkey," she said sarcastically. Addie hated portkey travel; there was always the possibility of it leading the traveler right into a trap, much like what happened to Harry at the end of the Triwizard Tournament.

Sweat was forming on Draco's brow, and it was rather obvious that his shirt was making him miserable in the heat. Addie sat up again, her bare legs curling behind her, "Draco," she said, "Take this damn thing off," she grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, and shook it lightly.

He looked at her, amused, his famous smirk forming on his lips, causing Addie to roll her eyes, "Oh? Coming on to me, are you?"

"Shut up," she pushed his shoulder, "You're in Africa. You should not be wearing this."

"I'm fine, really," he said, unconvincingly.

"Is it because of that mark?" Addie asked softly. He nodded silently, "I don't care about it. You don't have to hide it when it's just us."

Draco's eyes widened, "Yes I do, Addie. I don't want to wave it around in front of your face."

Addie cupped her hand over his, "Draco," she said sternly, "Take this shirt off now before you pass out from heat exhaustion."

That classic smirk formed over his lips again, "Only if you take it off of me."

A slight smirk formed over her own lips, "Okay then," she said and grabbed the collar of his shirt. Quickly, she pulled herself up toward him, so she could swing her leg across him. She sat on his lap, one leg on either side of him; automatically, he moved his hands so they rested on each of her lower thighs. Addie hoped that her skin was already flushed enough from the sun so he wouldn't notice the blush that she felt forming, "Well isn't this cozy," she said.

He laughed, "How bold of you."

"How bold of you to ask me to undress you," Addie retorted. She began working on undoing the buttons of the shirt. Each one she undid revealed more of his skin and Addie couldn't help but laugh slightly. How many girls at Hogwarts wanted to be in this exact position, undressing Draco Malfoy, and it was she, his longtime childhood friend, who won the prize. She undid the last button, then reached up and pushed the shirt off of his shoulders, "Well, there you go."

She swung her leg back across him, and fell back to her spot on the towel. Draco stared at her, "Well thank you for that," he said, running a hand over his left forearm nervously.

A loud laugh escaped Addie's lips, as she laid back down, "You act like you've never had a girl straddle you before."

"What is that supposed to mean?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Girls at Hogwarts talk. Don't think I don't hear of your rendezvous."

"Like who?"

"Well Pansy for one makes it a point to talk loudly about every time you sneak into her dormitory at night…"

"She is a liar!" he said loudly, "Fine, I snog her when I'm bored, but I have never come to see her in the night!"

Addie laughed, "Okay, I guess I figured that one wasn't true. Anyway, I know you had a little fling with Lavender Brown last year. Honestly, Draco, did you think I wouldn't hear about that one? She's one of my roommates!"

He sighed, "Yeah, we met up a couple times..."

"And I happen to know for a fact that you and Cho Chang had a thing going on _while_ she was dating Harry! No wonder she was so quick to give up Dumbledore's Army…"

Draco ran his fingers through his hair, "Yeah, that one was pretty much solely for the purpose of finding you guys," he said, "That, and the fact that she was dating Potter."

"How charming, you are. What a catch," Addie said, jokingly, turning her head to look at him, "And those are just some of the ones I know of! I'm sure there are countless other Slytherins I haven't heard about."

He remained quiet for a moment, then turned the conversation on Addie, "Well, you've had some escapades yourself, Miss Clayworth. Need I remind you of that Seamus bloke you were seeing last year?"

Addie scoffed, "Fine, there was him, but that's it! Before last year I was exceptionally inexperienced. Not that he gave me _much_ experience… we snogged a few times, that's it…"

"That can't possibly be it. I hear Gryffindors throw pretty wild parties, you're telling me _nothing_ has ever happened with anyone at one of those?"

"We have been known to throw a few parties during Quiddich season, but no, sadly, I have not shagged any guys during one of our wild parties."

Quite some time passed during which neither of them spoke. They simply sat in silence, enjoying each other's company while the sun soaked their skin. A light, warm breeze blew across their bodies, causing a couple strands of Addie's hair reach up and tickle Draco's face. He smiled lightly as his nose caught a hint of her fruity perfume.

"What about Potter?"

"Hmm?" she asked.

"You can't tell me that you've never snogged Potter, with how close you guys are."

Addie shook her head from where she lay beside Draco, "I have never been with Harry."

A wave of something that felt strangely like relief washed over Draco's body. Often, when it was late at night, his mind would wander to Addie, and what she was doing up in Gryffindor. It made him damn jealous that Potter got to practically live with her nearly ten months out of the year, while he only got to see her in a class that they shared together, or catch a glimpse of her at meals.

But like Addie had so bluntly pointed out while they were dancing together at her party, that wasn't her fault.

* * *

The pool was going to be Addie's escape from the insanity that was the Malfoy family, she could tell this by the time she got done with their first "family" meal together.

To call the dinner awkward and uncomfortable was an extreme understatement. Between the long, awkward silences that filled the dining room, Lucius took to grilling Addie about what happened to her at her birthday party. Narcissa hadn't been kidding when she said that he was interested in it; he was downright obsessed with it, actually.

Making it even worse, Lucius made it a point to let Addie know just how many Cruciatus Curses Draco had been hit with in the past five days, in his quest for knowledge. At that little fun fact, Narcissa burst out in tears, Lucius doing nothing to comfort his wife, leaving Addie feeling incredibly guilty.

As soon as she was dismissed, Addie headed out the glass doors and into the night, her destination being the pool.

She stood on the pool's edge, her shorts and t-shirt discarded in the sand, leaving her in the same bikini she had been in all day. One of her pedicured toes touched the water, causing a few ripples to cross the surface.

Just as she had mustered up enough courage to jump into the cold water, a pair of hands closed around her eyes and she let out a startled scream. She turned to see a laughing Draco, "Merlin, you're a jerk sometimes. You scared the hell out of me!"

"Who else would be out here with you?" he asked, still chuckling a little. He had discarded his shirt easily this time, throwing it on top of Addie's clothes.

"Your father, here to curse me until I reveal my secrets," Addie said, and Draco winced a bit. She wondered if he had been punished again after she escaped the house.

"Well," he said quietly, "you're in luck because he wouldn't do that unless your father was here."

"Joy, I have one more day of peace," Addie replied sarcastically.

Draco glanced at the water, "Well are you going in or what?"

"Give me a minute."

He completely ignored her. With one swift movement, he put an arm around her and jumped, catapulting the both of them into the water.

Addie came up, sputtering water, "Damn you! I am going to…"

"To what?" he said, mockingly with a smirk.

"Hurt you!" she yelled, flustered.

She lunged at him. Instead of swimming away, he simply grabbed her by her upper arms and carried her to the nearby pool wall, trapping her there with his arms, "That was a feeble attempt."

Pouting, she crossed her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip, only making him laugh again. After a moment, she reached up and ran her fingers through the few pieces of hair that had fallen from her ponytail, making them unstuck from her face. The light from the moon gave her a shimmery glow.

"Hey Addie."

"Hmm?" she didn't look up; she was busy watching the ripples float across the water as she lightly tapped the pool of water separating them with the palm of her hand.

"You're pretty."

She let her hand drop through the water to her side and lifted her head to look him in his eyes and smiled. He cupped her face with his hand and moved through the water, closer to her. Lightly, she traced her fingers over his bicep, and down the rest of his arm, causing him to shiver, a movement that Addie did not miss. She giggled to herself quietly.

Then, just when their faces were mere centimeters apart, Addie moved slightly to the right, turned her face, and kissed him softly on the cheek, "You're quite pretty yourself, Draco Malfoy," she whispered in her ear.

With that, she pushed herself up, out of the pool, wrapped her towel around her body and started her trek back up to the house.

Draco stayed in the pool, just watching her figure get smaller and smaller, until, finally, he couldn't see it any longer.

* * *

Thanks to everyone who has been reviewing! Keep them coming!


	6. Chapter 6

_**"When I looked at you, my life made sense. Even the bad things made sense. They were necessary to make you possible."**_

"Get in this ocean, right now!

A wave rolled in from behind Addie, hitting her behind the knees, causing her to collapse into the water. From his spot on the sand, Draco laughed as Addie resurfaced, sputtering salty water out of her mouth. As soon as she steadied herself, she laughed as well.

"Please come in?" she called. Draco was being rather stubborn about swimming in the ocean.

He shook his head, "No!" he called, "And I would prefer if you got out right now! You're going to get eaten by a shark."

Addie laughed, "Draco, you're a wizard! If you sat there and let me get eaten by a shark, that would be pretty sad."

Draco just laughed again, leaned back on his hands, and watched the girl with vigilant eyes as she splashed around in the water. They had been in Morocco together for a month now, and they would be returning to Hogwarts the following day. During their stay, Addie and Draco had spent a great deal of their time there alone together.

Another wave rolled in, dousing Addie with water again and he smiled at the slightly frustrated girl as she made her way out of the water, shaking out her soaked hair. It hadn't taken Draco long to figure out that he was completely smitten with her, and when he realized this, nearly three weeks before, it surprised him a bit. Never in his life had he actually had _real_ feelings for a girl.

Then again, that wasn't completely true. Since he was a child, he always felt that Addie was special to him. But she was the only one; she had always been the only one.

"You're no fun," she said, wringing out her hair, so that drops of water fell to Draco's head.

He pretended to be incredibly offended, "You better take that back," he said, getting to his feet.

"Oh yeah?" she said, hands on her bare hips, with her head cocked to the side, "What're you going to do about it?"

Clearly, she had wanted him to tackle her, because she made no effort to move when he lunged at her. Again, she made no effort to get away when he grabbed her, picked her up, and brought her to the ground, situating himself on top of her. Draco just barely noticed a blush form across her newly tanned face, "Wow, I am just so scared," she said mockingly, "What's next in your brilliant plan, tough guy?"

Draco discovered when they were very young that Addie was deathly ticklish at the spot on her lower abdomen, just above where a pair of pants would hit. He smirked devilishly before running his fingers all over that area, causing her to scream and laugh all at once. Obviously, through the years, she had forgotten that he knew that she was horribly ticklish.

"Don't…stop!" she breathed, trying to grab his wrists.

"What's that?" he asked, "Don't stop?"

She groaned in exasperation, "No…stop…" she managed between her gut-wrenching laughs.

"No, don't stop?"

"Stop," a voice that did not belong to either of them drawled across the beach.

The two winced at nearly the same time, looking at each other. Draco was on top of her, his hips pinning hers to the ground, her hands were gripping at his biceps, and his hands were so low on her abdomen, to someone who just walked up on them, it could have appeared that they just came out of her bikini bottoms.

In one fluid motion, Draco jumped up and faced Lucius and Mitch, both of whom looked rather surprised and angry to find their children in such a position. Addie stood as well, brushing sand off of her arms, legs, and back. She looked at the ground, sheepishly.

"We have been summoned, Draco," Lucius said, "Go change. Now," he added harshly.

Draco gave Addie an apologetic look before leaving the beach; he wanted to object, say that he didn't want to leave, but he didn't dare defy his father after what he had just walked in on.

Addie was left on the deserted beach with the two men. She was sure she was about to get a slew of Cruciatus Curses thrown at her, for touching Draco and tainting him with her filthy blood traitor hands…

But to her surprise, Mitch simply narrowed his eyes at her before he and Lucius turned on their heels and left the exact way Draco had a few moments before.

* * *

Hermione turned another page of her fresh, new _Advanced Rune Translation_ book. It was the last textbook she had to read before returning to school the next day and she had left it for last for good reason. It was full of complicated shapes and pictures and contained detailed and intricate explanations of how to translate them. The reading was much too difficult for even her mind to understand. With a huff she slammed the book shut hard on her lap.

Ron looked up at her from his spot on the floor, where he was busy playing Wizard's Chess with himself. He had a system of making a move, and then spinning the board around and making an opponent's move, "Trouble in textbook paradise?"

"Oh shut up, Ronald," she snapped. He and Harry had been making fun of her for reading her textbooks early since their trip to Diagon Alley in July.

After five years of friendship, Ron was used to her touchy personality, especially when it came to him poking fun at her about her studies, "Sorry, did I strike a nerve?" he wore an amused grin on his face.

Determined to ignore him, Hermione opened her book back up and began reading it once again. However, the reading was so dull, boring, and complex, that she found herself just staring at the words, moving her eyes slightly, turning the page every once in a while, so as to appear to be reading.

From his spot on the floor, Ron chose to make particularly annoying humming noises, as if he were pondering his next chess move very carefully. In reality, he wasn't thinking of anything but the girl who was sitting on the couch above him. He knew that if he continued making the annoying noises, she would eventually have to talk to him again. It was just in her personality to do so.

"At least I'm doing something _productive_, Ronald. Reading a textbook could do you some good, after seeing how few O.W.L.s you received, instead of playing that stupid game."

Ron chose to ignore her remark about his O.W.L scores, which weren't _that_ bad, but of course weren't nearly as good as hers. He secretly hoped that when they saw Addie tomorrow, she would inform Hermione that she got Outstandings on all of hers, including Defense Against the Dark Arts, the one class Hermione didn't get an O in, "For your information, chess happens to be a very thought-provoking, mind-enriching game, Hermione."

She scoffed, "It's a simple game."

"If it's so simple, why don't you play a game with me, so I don't have to play by myself."

Hermione laughed, indignantly, "No."

"Why not? Scared I might beat you?"

He knew that he had got her with that last line. Hermione would never pass up the opportunity to show Ron up. With one final look at the words on the page, she shut the book abruptly and slunk to the floor across from him, "I'd like to see you try," she said, leaning across the board, getting close to his face. He smirked, her breath smelled minty from the gum she was chewing on.

"Do Mummy and Daddy know you're chomping on gum?"

"Shut up, Ronald, and play."

Perhaps Hermione underestimated the redhead's abilities. She had, of course, played chess a few times before and had done relatively well, but Ron just made her look bad and that was something she did not rightly like. After three moves, she had stupidly exposed her king to him, ending the game.

Ron looked up from the board at her, a happy smirk spreading across his face, "I believe I just beat you."

Face reddening with anger, Hermione stood up, "This is just a stupid game, Ronald," she spat, half in embarrassment, half in anger.

"Uh huh."

"It is!" she yelled. He refused to wipe the stupid smirk off of her face, "It's not that big of a deal!"

"Yes it is! I beat you, Hermione. Fair and square."

"Oh congratulations," she snapped, "You beat me at a bloody game of chess."

Ron simply laughed at her frustration. Though she was one of his best friends, he found quite a bit of satisfaction in annoying her, "Are you missing your wand," he asked, trying to suppress laughter.

"What? No, it's upstairs on my bed," she said, her face softening in confusion, "Why?"

"Sorry," he said, "I just thought perhaps you lost it up your arse."

"You are an insufferable, immature git!" she yelled, stamping her foot on the wood floor before stalking out of the room.

Ron doubled over in a fit of hysterics, clutching the stitch that was catching in his side from how hard he was laughing.

* * *

Warm tea slid down Addie's throat and she looked out at the garden through the living room window. At 10:30 the next morning, she would be leaving this place forever, by portkey, and she wanted to permanently engrave the beauty of it in her mind.

"I hope you had a nice time here," Narcissa said as she sat opposite Addie, sipping her own cup of tea.

Addie nodded, swallowing down the tea she had just sipped, "I did. This is a beautiful place."

She noticed Narcissa's eyes dart over to the clock that hung on the wall. It was approaching midnight and the men had been gone for nearly ten hours. The two hadn't mentioned it, but Addie was sure that Narcissa was just as worried about it as she was.

"What do you think is keeping them?" Addie asked, acknowledging the absent men for the first time since they had been gone.

Narcissa just stared stone-faced, shaking her head slowly. Addie didn't mention it further.

Another hour passed, during which, the two women sat in silence. Narcissa's reaction to Addie's question earlier proved that her worries were justified, and each time the minute hand on the clock moved without an arrival, she grew more worried.

Finally, just after one, a pop sounded in the kitchen, and the two women jumped to their feet, nearly tripping over each other as they made their way to find the source of the sound.

To their great relief, Draco, Mitch, and Lucius stood in the kitchen, but Addie's relief didn't last long. Draco was being supported under Lucius' arm. His eye was blackened, he had scratches on his face, and blood was soaking through his white shirt in three different places.

Narcissa screamed in horror and ran over to her son, sitting him down in a chair. Anger bubbled up in Addie's throat; if all of this had been about her…

"You," Lucius raged, pointing at Addie, "This is all your fault!"

For a moment, Addie just stared at him, with her mouth hanging open slightly. She looked over at Draco's broken body before asking, "Me?"

"Yes, you, you little harlot! This is your fault. He feels some sort of need to protect you!" he spat, angrily.

"Lucius," Mitch said sternly, "You watch your mouth."

It was Mitch's turn to get a shocked stare from Addie. In her living memory, he had never defended her before. It was the first fatherly thing she had ever seen him do. Addie supposed, in his mind, it was all right for him to treat her badly, but off limits for anyone else. At the moment, she was strangely okay with that.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Addie said, so badly wanting to go to Draco's side, to see that he was all right, but she felt that it would not be most wise to do so.

"You need to tell us what happened to you on your birthday," Lucius said.

"This is what it's about?" Addie yelled, enraged. Narcissa jumped from how loudly Addie had yelled, causing her to cry even harder than she already was as she tended to her son, "You let _Him_ beat up your son over me?"

"Adrienne," her father said, warningly, not wanting her to bring the Dark Lord into this.

Addie ignored him, "Why does Voldemort even care what happened to me?"

It looked as though both men were about to scold her for speaking his name from her unworthy lips, but at the moment, it didn't seem most prudent to do so, "He could care less about you, you filthy blood traitor," Lucius said. Mitch snapped another warning that went unnoticed.

"So you're telling me that this was your own doing? You did this to your own son over me?" Lucius simply continued to stare daggers at her, "I'll tell you what happened to me, you horrible, horrible man!" Addie yelled more furiously than before, "I tapped into your Firewhiskey collection," she said, turning to her father. It almost surprised her, how easily the lie escaped her lips, "And it turns out that I can't stomach it very well. So congratulations, Lucius," she spat his name, "You've been torturing your son for weeks because I can't handle a couple swigs of liquor."

Lucius drew his wand faster than Addie thought was humanly possible for someone to move. He grabbed the neck of her shirt, sticking his wand to her throat. Fear flashed across Addie's eyes; she had never been attacked by Lucius before.

From behind Lucius' back, Draco tried to protest, to do something to protect her from his father, but found that he had no strength to even whisper.

Something cracked, causing Lucius to fly backwards, and Addie fell back in the opposite direction, hitting her back against the wall. Mitch looked at her, with a strange look in his eyes, almost like fear, as he pulled his wand out of his cloak. She was confused for a moment, then she realized why he was looking at her so curiously.

He hadn't hexed Lucius. Addie had, but her wand was tucked safely in her trunk in her bedroom.

Mitch turned to face the blonde man on the floor. Lucius hadn't noticed that Mitch pulled out his wand _after_ he had been hit, "Don't you ever lay a finger on my daughter again," he threatened, as Lucius stood up, "I shall deal with her," Addie was almost touched by how her father was protecting her, even if it was just because he wanted to show Lucius that he was now more powerful in Voldemort's circle, "Just because you are desperate for acceptance from the Dark Lord does not mean you can use my daughter for it."

Lucius nodded slowly, and it was obvious that Addie's mother had been right when she told Addie that Lucius was afraid of Mitch.

"I must leave again. I will be back in time to take you to the train, as he cannot be trusted to do so," he said to Addie. Surprisingly, he held out his hand to her, helping her up from the floor, "You," he spat at Lucius, "Will not so much as look at her while I am gone. And you can be assured that the Dark Lord will hear of this."

Addie watched as her father disappeared with a crack.

* * *

Draco saw Addie sleeping down by the water. The sun was just coming up over the horizon, casting an orange glow. Each time the waves rolled in, they just nearly missed washing over her body. He frowned at the fact that she felt that the only safe place for her to sleep was on the beach, completely exposed.

He knelt next to her body, wincing a bit. The cuts on his body were healed, but still sore. His eye had been healed as well and by the time they would arrive at King's Cross in a few hours, the bruise would be gone completely. Softly, he ran his hand across her forehead, causing her to open her eyes, with a start.

"Draco…" she said, immediately throwing her arms around his neck. She began to sob. He wrapped his arms tightly around her tiny body, allowing her to cry into the crook of his neck, "I'm…so sorry," she cried.

"This isn't your fault," he said, running his fingers through her hair.

She looked at him, her faced stained from her tears, "It is, Draco."

"It's not," he said, cupping her face with both hands and using his thumbs to wipe the tears away, "It's not."

Addie smiled weakly, at how genuine and caring he was being, and she motioned for Draco to lay down on her blanket, which he did, happy to relieve his muscles. She snuggled next to him, resting a hand on his chest and he wrapped an arm around her body.

He kissed the top of her head lightly, "I know you hexed my father," he said, "I saw your dad pull his wand out after."

Addie looked up at him, "I don't know what happened. I didn't even say or think a spell. It just happened…"

Draco pursed his lips; he didn't want to worry her, but that was not good news. Thank Merlin his father hadn't noticed, or he would have run straight to the Dark Lord, uncaring of what Mitch had to say about it.

"Why didn't you just tell him? Why did you endure all of that?" she asked, changing the subject.

"I will always keep your secrets, Addie," he said, kissing her head again, "Always."

* * *

The kitchen at Grimmauld Place was quite busy, though it was still just early in the morning. None of the kids had awoken yet; they were surely trying to sleep in one final time before they went back to school that afternoon.

Claire stood near the table where Remus and Tonks sat. The two came over so early because they were two of the Order members enlisted to escort Harry to King's Cross. Tonks came, a little less than willingly, and scowled as Claire chatted with Remus, catching up after another one of her long journeys around the world.

Tonks knew she should like Claire. After all, she was her fiancée's best friend, and Claire had never actually _done_ anything to her, but she couldn't help finding her the slightest bit annoying. She was always so willing to run off to God knows where, leaving her daughter at home to fend for herself with her cruel, Death Eater father.

And Addie, Tonks felt, deserved a better mother than that.

All eyes moved to the kitchen door as it swung open violently. Through it, a disheveled looking Arthur Weasley came, holding his new issue of the _Daily Prophet_.

"This has just arrived, and we have a problem," he slapped the newspaper down flat on the table, revealing the front page.

Everyone looked at the headline, appearing in bold, black, capital letters. A large, moving picture appeared under the headline.

**CLAYWORTH APPOINTED NEW VICE MINISTER**

The Death Eaters had finally worked their way up the Ministry ladder, gaining the second in command position. No one had actually expected that to happen. The paper was looked at by everyone in the room in utter shock.

But, no one was quite as shocked as Claire. She stared at the photo of her husband in disbelief, her tea mug crashing to the floor.

* * *

So I have some things to tell you all and I also need your help…

First of all, I wasn't sure if I was going to have this follow the books or not, and I have decided that this will pretty much be set in an alternate universe EXCEPT for the fact that Draco is a Death Eater with his mission to kill Dumbledore. Everything else in HBP will be disregarded, except for Snape's invented spells, which I find to be quite useful. Deathly Hallows will be disregarded almost entirely, as well. So basically, there are no horcruxes. Also, expect me to start messing with canon.. I have to play around with a certain family tree a bit, for one of the many surprises I have up my sleeves, but that's not quite here yet.

Second, while this is mainly going to revolve around the Draco/Addie pairing, if you couldn't tell, I'm also on board the Ron/Hermione ship, so expect a relationship there. That being said, this is a lot more than just a romance story. I have a fairly thick plot planned out, so if all you're looking for is a fluffy romance, I'll tell you now, this isn't quite what you're looking for.

Finally, while on the topic of couples, I need you readers to help me out here. The more I write this, the more I like the idea of a little fling between Harry and Addie when she's eventually on the outs with Draco for a while. My problem is, is that when I first started writing this, I intended that pairing to be with George. I like both ideas, and I've written it so that both of them seem interested, but I think that may be a bit…much, pairing Addie with three different guys throughout the course of the story. So, I'm just wondering if you guys have any preferences? These story details are still up for changes, so let me know. But who knows, I might play around with both ideas anyway…

Basically, I just wanted to lay all of this out on the table for you guys, to let you all know what to expect. If it sounds like it's going in the direction of something you won't like to read, I will completely understand if you don't want to continue reading.

If you are going to stay with me, then thanks!


	7. Chapter 7

**_"Say a prayer; the summer nights are dead; the fall is coming..."_**

Addie's tiny half inch heels clicked on the marble floor as she made her way from her bedroom to the kitchen for the last time, the sound resonating off the walls of the long hallway. She was fully dressed in a lightweight, pale blue shirt, which hung off of her left shoulder slightly, and a pair of white shorts. Her wand was tucked neatly in her back pocket for the first time since leaving Hogwarts.

In the kitchen sat Draco, Mitch, and Lucius; the three of them were not speaking to each other, nor were they looking at each other, or even sitting near each other. Draco sat at the counter on a bar stool, Lucius on a chair at one end of the long table, and Mitch rested against the edge of the table at the other end.

At the sound of Addie's clicking heels, the men lifted their heads and looked toward the archway just as she came through it. The girl took note of their odd expressions; they were all looking at her as if they were expecting her to at any moment, sprout a second head.

"Good morning," she said as politely as possible, given how she felt about two of the three men. She smiled sweetly at Draco, who returned an apprehensive smile. At this, she cocked her head curiously, wondering why everyone was looking at her so strangely.

For the time being, she chose to ignore their looks and instead poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice. She sipped it delicately before glancing at the clock, noting that their portkey would be leaving in less than half an hour.

"Is that my _Daily Prophet_?" she asked nodding towards the neatly folded newspaper on the end of the counter. Draco simply nodded, biting his bottom lip slightly, "What is with you guys this morning? You're acting more dodgy than usual," she asked skeptically before picking up the newspaper and unfolding it, "Well, let's see what kind of rubbish they're printing today," she mumbled, more to herself than any of the men in the room with her.

Her eyes widened as she read over the headline, then reread it, and then reread it _again_ to be sure she had comprehended it correctly. She didn't even take notice that her full glass of juice had slipped from her grasp until the distinct noise of breaking glass sounded through the kitchen, "Shit," she swore when she felt the sticky juice soak her shoes.

A house elf quickly rushed to clean the mess and Addie ignored it as it cleaned up her shoes and looked up at her father, "What is this?" she asked angrily, "Is this some kind of joke?"

Mitch took a step away from the table toward her, "Is there a problem?"

"I'm sure you can understand why I'm a bit concerned, given the activities that you do outside the office."

"To what are you referring?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, "I'm sure you can make a guess." He grunted in response, "I don't understand. You were fine being head of the Department of International Magic Cooperation. I mean, wasn't that better for you? Then you could call on wizards from all over the world to come and join up with _Him_."

"What is done is done."

The paper crumpled beneath her shaking hands. This was bad; a Death Eater was in the second most important position in the Ministry of Magic. It was so bad that Addie probably couldn't even comprehend how bad it actually was. If Scrimgeour died, he would be first in command. They would be in control.

Then it hit her.

"You're going to kill Scrimgeour," she said in complete realization. It was almost too much for her to take all at once. To look at her father and know…to know that he was a part of a plot to kill the Minister of Magic…

She had never been naïve enough to believe that her didn't kill people, but the Minister of Magic? That was too much. It could not be happening.

She felt sick.

And his lack of reaction to her statement proved it to be all too true. He was going to kill the Minister of Magic. Him. Mitch. Her father.

Her summer in paradise had come to an abrupt end and the fall was rolling in quicker than anyone could prepare for it.

* * *

A flash. One bright yellow flash greeted Addie as soon as she stepped foot on platform nine and three quarters. When her eyes finally adjusted and the stars stopped floating before them, she saw the mass of people standing in front of her, waiting for her arrival with her newly famous father.

As another camera flash went off, Addie finally realized why Mitch had been so keen to stop Lucius from hurting her the night before. Of course he knew there would be press and he couldn't have his daughter showing up for school looking like she had been mauled by some kind of animal. He hadn't been acting fatherly toward her at all.

"I am not talking to them," she said monotonously to her father as another flash went off.

He looked at her sternly, "You will if they speak to you."

From across the platform, Addie spotted Harry, surrounded by various aurors and Order members, including Mad-Eye Moody. A sudden urge erupted within her to run across the platform and tell Mad-Eye what her father was going to do. He could haul Mitch off to Azkaban and rid her of him forever…

But before she could do anything like that, a high-pitched voice stopped her, "Miss Clayworth, care to say a few words for the _Daily Prophet_?" Rita Skeeter stood before her, clad in bright orange robes. She gave Addie a devilish, hostile smirk. She had clearly not forgotten that Addie and Hermione had trapped her in a jar two years ago.

"I'd rather not speak to you," Addie said sweetly, yet her words were full of venom. Her father elbowed her in the side. Addie rolled her eyes before saying, "Make it quick."

"Tell me how you felt when you found out your father was to be the new Vice Minster."

"I was just thrilled," she said sardonically, "He is a wonderful man and I cannot wait to see what kind of wonderful things he will do for the magical community."

Skeeter's acid green quill scratched itself across her notepad quickly. Addie knew all too well that the quill was twisting around every single word that was coming out of her mouth, "As I understand it, you were in Morocco with the Malfoy family at the time of your father's promotion."

"Yes, and?"

"Do you often spend long periods of time with the Malfoy family?"

Addie inhaled deeply, "Whenever my father asks me to," she said as sweetly as possible.

"How do you think Harry Potter feels about that?"

At once, the fake smile that Addie wore fell from her face, and she glared at the woman, "This interview is over."

A satisfied smile crossed Skeeter's lips, "Something wrong, dear?"

Her question went ignored. Mustering up the last bit of patience she had, Addie turned to her father and bid him goodbye. She cringed as he gave her a hug, something he normally would not have done had the reporters not been there, and more flashbulbs went off around them. Quickly, she grabbed the trolley that held her trunk and got away from them as fast as possible.

"Adrienne," Moody stopped Addie before she could reach her friends, "Tell me what you know."

"I don't know anything. I just found out this morning. I was as shocked as you were, I'm sure."

"You sure didn't hear them say anything at all this summer?"

"No, nothing. They weren't there very much." Addie didn't need to say that she was sure that Scrimgeour was in danger: it was already written all over his face. She walked the rest of the way to the group with Moody in silence. In total, there were eight Order members, and not one of them was her mother. Addie's stomach dropped a bit; she was hoping to get to see Claire before she went back to school.

"Your mother regrets that she couldn't be here today to see you off," Remus said, once Addie reached the group.

It was difficult for Addie to hide the anger from her voice, "Where is she?" she asked. It was unbelievable that Claire had something more important to attend to than see her daughter off to school, after not seeing her for a month.

"She had…"

"Business," Addie finished bitterly, "Of course."

Remus put a caring hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, "She really wanted to be here."

To that, Addie had no reply. Truthfully, she didn't believe that. As of late, Claire had shown little interest in seeing her daughter off; she wasn't there when Addie left for Morocco, and she wasn't there today. And Addie had to wonder, what kind of mother didn't show up to send her daughter to school when she wouldn't see her again until Christmas?

What could be more important?

There was a light tap on Addie's shoulder, causing her to momentarily break off from her anger. She turned, and behind her was her familiar green-eyed best friend.

"Harry," she said before throwing her arms around him. Until that moment, Addie hadn't realized how much she had missed him. Her time with Draco, combined with the beauty of Morocco must have eased the pain of being separated from her best friend for so long.

She felt Harry wrap his arms tightly around her waist, lift her in the air slightly, and swing her around.

No one noticed the camera flash from across the platform.

* * *

"Shouldn't the two of you be making your prefect rounds?" Addie asked Ron and Hermione, who sat across from she and Harry in their compartment.

Ron shook his head, "We're letting the fifth years take care of that job."

"We really should be supervising them, Ronald," Hermione snapped. She didn't take her prefect title lightly.

Addie rolled her eyes as the two of them began bickering silently. She sat with her back resting against the wall of the compartment, her legs resting comfortably across Harry's lap. He didn't seem to mind it much. In fact, he had an arm wrapped lightly around her waist and Addie would have said he was quite enjoying himself, actually.

"Try this one," Addie said, shoving a Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean at his mouth, to which he replied with a swift shake of his head and closed his lips tightly. She had already made him eat ones that turned out to be sock and dirt flavored. This one was a bright red, "Come on. I reckon it's either cherry or blood flavored."

"Yeah Harry, try it," Ron had stopped bickering with Hermione long enough to mock him, "You already know what blood tastes like, all the times you've been hurt."

"Exactly," Addie said, smiling.

He rolled his eyes before opening his mouth and letting Addie feed the bean to him. Addie watched as he chewed, his face quickly contorting, "Blood," he said after swallowing obnoxiously.

Addie laughed, "I knew it."

At that moment, the compartment door crashed open, startling them. Pansy Parkinson was standing in the doorway, a smirk across her fat face.

"I knew I smelled something in here. Thought some first year might have set off a dung bomb but it turns out it's just the stench of mudblood and blood traitors."

"You're so clever, Pansy. How long did it take your abnormally small sized brain come up with that little gem?" Hermione asked coolly.

Pansy scowled, "You really dare speak to _me_ like that, Granger?" Arrogance radiated out of her every orifice.

"Just get lost," Addie said, without even looking at her, completely uninterested in dealing with her. She fed Harry another pleasantly pink colored bean.

A loud, hair-raising cackle filled the compartment, causing Addie's blood to run cold. Addie hadn't looked up from her box of beans before the source of the cackle spoke, and she knew that it wasn't Pansy, "That is the most pathetic couple I have ever seen."

It was the voice of a female and it was icy cold and full of pure hate. The air in the compartment grew cold and tense, and if Addie hadn't known better, she would have thought a dementor had just entered.

Not that the person that had entered was any better; Addie would have taken a dementor over her any day.

When she finally raised her head, Addie's eyes landed upon the tall, pale, dark haired figure of the person that she hated most.

Fiona Lestrange looked exactly like her mother. Long, wild, dark hair fell down her back and it contrasted drastically with her startlingly pale, white skin. Her eyes were dark, almost black, and were full of wild amusement, just as they always were when she was torturing someone; they were lined with thick, black eyeliner and mascara.

She had already changed into her uniform and had put her usual charm on her skirt to make it four inches shorter than everyone else's. Though she wore the same white shirt that every student at Hogwarts had to wear, her's was unbuttoned so it showed cleavage and the top of her lacy black bra.

Did the male students of Hogwarts think she was attractive?

Yes.

Would any of them but the Slytherins admit it?

No.

One last thing about Fiona that set her apart from the rest of the Hogwarts students: she had a pure, undiluted hate for Addie.

And Addie returned every single bit of it.

Behind Fiona stood Draco and his usual cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Pansy hurried to her queen bee's side, looking at her with absolute admiration. For a split second, Addie caught Draco's eye, but he quickly averted his gaze elsewhere, as he always did when they crossed paths at school in the presence of others.

Addie knew she wouldn't be able to keep her butt in her seat. In one swift movement, she swung her legs off of Harry's lap and stood. Fiona walked toward her threateningly, "Hold my beans, Harry," Addie said, handing him her box of jelly beans. She turned and met the Slytherin halfway. Fiona towered over Addie, by at least five inches, but with the way Addie held herself, it was practically unnoticeable.

"What do you want, Fiona?" Addie spat.

"Such hostility makes you even uglier than you already are, Adrienne," Fiona spat back.

"You're one to talk about being ugly."

"I think that all of the men in this compartment would agree that between you and I, the only ugly one is you."

"The only reason for that is because they can't see your real dragon face because it's hidden with all of that make up."

Fiona glared at Addie. It always bothered her when Addie didn't crumble from her insults, "I wonder if you would be saying that to me if your father wasn't just named Vice Minister."

Addie laughed coldly, "You know I would, Fiona. It wouldn't be very Gryffindor of me to hide behind my daddy's position at the Ministry, now would it? No, that's something you pathetic Slytherins do to try to intimidate people."

At the mention of the word pathetic, all of the Slytherins in the compartment scowled at Addie. Pathetic, after all, was their buzz word. They were always quick to defend themselves any time someone called them pathetic.

"You know who was pathetic? My mother's cousin that she did in at the Ministry last year. You remember Sirius, don't you Addie?"

In order to fight back tears, Addie bit the inside of her mouth, "Shut up," she said threateningly.

A sick amusement spread itself across Fiona's face, "Oh of course you remember. How could you forget? You killed McGregor that night."

The Slytherins behind her looked even angrier; it was clear that this was news to them. Draco locked eyes with her; he too, was shocked by the news. It was really the first time that Addie had heard anyone actually say it, _you killed McGregor…_ For the second time that day, Addie felt sick. It didn't matter to her that he was a Death Eater and he would have killed her if she had given him the chance.

That didn't change the fact that she had murdered someone.

"Get the hell out of here," Harry said, noticing how pale Addie had suddenly become.

"How cute," Fiona continued, "Your little boyfriend is coming to your defense. The two of you should enjoy what time you have together. Very soon the both of you will be going the way of your precious Sirius…and his disgusting parents."

"Shut up, Fiona!" Addie screamed, finding her voice again. She was about to lose it. Just like she had lost it that night at the Ministry…

The cold hate in Addie's voice frightened her friends a bit. Never had they heard her so full of hate.

"Did I strike a nerve, Addie? Don't like hearing the cold, hard truth? Sirius is dead! My mother killed him! And perfect Lily and James Potter are dead! The Dark Lord killed them!" Addie wasn't going to be able to control herself much longer, "And you know what else? McGregor is dead! You killed him, Addie! You killed him in cold blood, without thinking twice! And you've been denying it! You're worse than the Dark Lord! He is proud of what he's done and you do horrible things and pretend like you're so perfect! You are path-"

_Crack!_

Fiona fell to the ground, Pansy following right after her, to tend to her ring leader's broken nose.

Harry, Hermione, and Ron jumped up and grabbed Addie before she could fling herself on Fiona and injure her further. However, Addie's fist throbbed from making contact with Fiona's nose and she probably wouldn't have attacked her again anyway. The tears that had been prickling at her eyes since Fiona mentioned Sirius' name finally spilled on to her cheeks.

"You're a crazy bitch, Addie!" Fiona yelled through her own bloody hands that were holding her nose. The Slytherin boys weren't moving or speaking. They were seemingly shocked at what had happened.

"Do something!" Pansy yelled at Ron and Hermione, "You're prefects! Punish her!"

Ron snaked an arm around Addie's shoulders, "I don't know what you're talking about. I saw Fiona trip and hit her ugly face on the floor. Didn't you, Hermione?"

"Sure did. She tripped over her own gigantic feet."

Fiona threw Pansy's hands off of her and stood up, blood still dripping from her nose. Addie wasn't really aware that she was stepping toward her again; her body had gone completely numb.

"This is far from over," Fiona spat, spewing blood as she did so, "I'm going to kill you, Addie. I'm going to make sure it's long and painful. You can take that as a promise."

"And I promise you, Fiona, that I will kill you first."

Addie had never made a more real promise in her life.

With one last snarl, Fiona left the compartment, Pansy following at her heels. Crabbe and Goyle stayed behind, looking expectantly at Draco, who hadn't moved since the mention that Addie killed McGregor. After a moment, he sent them on.

"Addie," he said, stepping toward her, "you killed him? _You_?"

"What's wrong?" Addie said through her tears, "Mad because you weren't clued in by Him and Fiona was?"

"Addie," he said warningly. She knew she had probably said too much, but she had lost all control over herself, "You should remember what I know," he said barely audibly.

She cut her eyes at him, "And you should remember what I know," she said just as quietly.

At that, Draco left, and Addie's mind went blank, and she fell, tearfully, back to the seat she had been sitting in before the Slytherins ever walked in.

* * *

Here I go messing with canon already. Keep in mind for the rest of the story: Narcissa is NOT Bellatrix's sister, so Draco and Fiona are NOT cousins. Everything else is the same, just break that link between those two women. Bellatrix is a Black, Narcissa is not. Got it? Good.

Sorry it took me a while to get this out. I had finals last week, so the whole month of January has been me preparing for those.

Thanks for your opinions on the last chapter. I've made up my mind about what I'm going to do.

Thoughts on this chapter?


	8. Chapter 8

_**Well, this hurts me more than I can stand to say in just one sitting; you left the room so I could pray; so I'll pace the halls to see if I could find a hole in something, or maybe places to escape…**_

_It was as if everyone in the Department of Mysteries had stopped breathing._

_The plan on both sides had been to get in and get out. Get in, retrieve the kids, and get out. No one was supposed to get hurt, no one was supposed to be left alone, and most of all, no one was supposed to die. _

_But, there wasn't a plan in the world that went off without a few glitches._

_As Sirius Black fell behind the veil of death, both sides watched with wide eyes. That had not been a part of the plan. Time, it seemed, was standing still as everyone tried to comprehend what had just happened. Sirius Black was dead. Dead by his own cousin's hand._

_And then, Harry reacted. He reacted more fiercely than anyone had ever seen him react, and he had to be stopped before there was another death that night. Everyone in the DA and Order must have assumed the that everyone would take off after Harry, and thus, the plan to make sure that no one was abandoned, was abandoned itself._

_Addie hadn't be able to overcome her shock quite as quickly as everyone else._

_And so she was left there. Alone. Or so she thought._

_One Death Eater hadn't missed Addie's abandonment. _

_The only thing that was able to pull Addie out of her state of shock was the jet of white light that flew past her. When she turned, he had already cast another spell, and this one didn't miss. It picked her up and she flew through the air, until finally hitting the stone wall several feet behind her._

_She could feel the skin on her back tear as she slid down the wall. A scream escaped from her lips, but no one heard her. No one was going to come help. Addie was on her own._

_Blood was already escaping her wounds, soaking the back of her shirt. It took a moment for her to replace the oxygen that had been forced out of her lungs when she hit the wall, and by the time she had steadied her breathing again, McGregor was headed straight for her._

_There was no doubt in Addie's mind that he was going to kill her. His eyes were full of a raging, sadistic fire, one that could only be put out with death… either hers, or his own._

_He grew closer and closer to her, and Addie could actually see her own death coming right toward her. Even after all of the death that had happened around her since Voldemort's return, Addie had never thought of her own, funnily enough. _

_Would it hurt? How long would it last? Where would she go after she was gone? Who would attend her funeral? Question after question rushed through her head as McGregor drew in closer, and closer, and closer…_

_And then, something inside of her snapped._

_It was Addie's body that moved, launching itself on McGregor, sending him to the floor, but she couldn't remember telling it to do that. But, she didn't care. The only thought that filled her head was that she was not going to die, not then, not there, not by his hand._

_Whether it was her own will to live, or something bigger than that, something paranormal, Addie wasn't sure, but she fought. _

_For every curse that McGregor sent her way, Addie answered it with full force, with spells that she wasn't even sure that she knew, but nonetheless, they flew off of her wand flawlessly. She had never dueled before, but no one would be able to tell from looking at her. With the way she danced around the room, it was like she knew how to duel, though she had never properly been taught._

_She didn't want to kill him. She just wanted to stop him long enough to get out of the room, so she could find her friends. In and out, just like the plan had said._

_And it seemed, when McGregor went down from the force of one of her spells, the plan was going to get back on track. So, thinking he was unconscious, she ran._

_The room had never seemed so large. All she had to do was get across the room to the door and she would be free. Before she could reach the door, Addie was hit with another spell. She fell to the ground, painfully, losing her wand in the process._

_No. She had been so close. It had almost been over. She had almost been free. This couldn't be happening._

_He came upon her again, as she lay on the ground, helpless, and in pain. After all her effort to stay alive, she was going to lose. She was going to die…_

_As he wrapped two hands around her throat, she began to cry. Loud sobs shook through her body. She realized, for the first time since being left alone with the Death Eater, that she was terrified, absolutely terrified, to die._

_His hands wrapped tighter around her neck, stifling her sobs. She was getting evermore light headed with each second without oxygen, evermore closer to death…_

_Then, in one last second of desperation, she noticed her wand, laying just out of reach._

_McGregor was too fixated on watching Addie's increasingly blue face to notice when she reached her right arm up over her head toward her wand. Desperately, she tried to elongate her arm, slowly inching it closer to her wand._

_It was right there… so close… if she could only just reach it…_

_And then, she did. _

_For a moment, she continued to lay there, allowing McGregor to literally take the life out of her. Why, she wasn't sure, maybe she was waiting for the right moment, or maybe she was simply trying to delay what happened next, but whatever it was, it ended when she felt her windpipe on the verge of collapse._

_The first spell that came to her mind was a Blasting Curse, and before she could stop herself, she uttered the incantation, and the Blasting Curse did exactly what a Blasting Curse was supposed to do… _

_McGregor's body was blown apart._

Addie sat up straight in her bed. A cold sweat dripped down her face and her heart raced inside her chest. Her eyes were wet and stinging with the tears that had escaped from beneath her eyelids during her nightmare.

But had it actually been a nightmare? Nightmares were mere figments of a sleeper's imagination; frightening stories in which their deepest, darkest fears were played out right before their eyes. However terrifying they could be, they weren't real, they were works of fiction created by a dreamer's overstressed subconscious.

This had been real.

It was evil of Addie's mind to do this to her, to make her relive her most horrible memory in her sleep. The difference between dreaming a memory and dreaming a nightmare was that you could wake up and forget about the nightmare, while a memory, especially one as horrible as this, would be etched in the brain forever.

It was her brain's way of punishment, Addie supposed, punishment for thinking that she could go forever without ever thinking or talking about it. It was her brain's way of telling her that she could run for as long and as far as she wanted, but it would never be enough.

Your memories would catch up with you eventually.

* * *

Harry had been dreaming again.

It was always the same, always. The same memory that haunted him all summer long, the vision of Sirius and his lifeless eyes falling and disappearing behind the veil; it just replayed itself over and over again, night after night.

It had gotten better, though. He was able to sleep longer and longer as time went on before it would come. Often, he would even dream other dreams. Real dreams, happy dreams, ones that normal people would dream about.

But, eventually, it would always come.

And, Harry could never bring himself to go back to sleep after it.

That little fact was what brought Harry down to the common room at four-fifteen in the morning on the first day of classes. The room was chillier than usual, as the fire that usually kept the room warm had long since burned out, and Harry immediately began to wonder why he had come down there with a thin pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt and nothing else.

Before he could turn and go back upstairs for warmer clothing, he noticed he was not the only one down there so early.

"Addie?" he asked. The girl was sitting straight up, her back resting against the cushions of her chair, with her hands resting lightly on her knees. She was fully dressed in her Gryffindor robes, with her tie tied neatly around her neck, and her skirt pleated perfectly, hitting her a few inches above her knees. Her hair was up in a messy bun, with pieces framing her face, and she had her usual bit of light make-up on. For the most part, she looked like her normal self… except for the fact that she was staring blankly out of the window in front of her, "What are you doing down here?"

"I killed McGregor," she said emotionlessly, without looking at him.

Harry took a seat on the coffee table in front of her and placed a hand on top of hers. She had never said it aloud before; as far as he knew, actually, she had never talked about it to anyone but Dumbledore, and that had just been so he could make it all go away for her, "I know you did."

"I tried really hard to get away from him," she said, "but I just couldn't."

"I know," he said, squeezing her hand.

"He was choking me," she broke her the trance that she had been in, and looked Harry in the eyes.

He nodded for her to continue.

"And I couldn't hardly breathe anymore…he was going to kill me…and so I killed him."

As much as Harry hated Fiona, he knew that she had inadvertently helped Addie by bringing up McGregor; she hadn't talked about it in months, and if she kept it bottled up, she would never get over it, "You didn't have any choice, Addie. You couldn't let him kill you."

"But I did," she replied, tears threatening to spill over the brims of her eyes again, "I did have a choice."

"How?"

"I sent a Blasting Curse at him, Harry. I knew full well that it would kill him, and I didn't care. There were so many other spells I could have used, I could have stunned him…I didn't have to kill him, but I did…"

That piece of information did frighten Harry a bit; he had never heard _how_ she had killed him, just that she had, and that it was in self defense…but he had to admit, it was a bit gruesome…he couldn't even imagine what that would have been like to witness…what would have happened to the body…

Harry could relate, however, he had wanted to kill Bellatrix Lestrange so badly… "You did what you had to, Addie. If you hadn't, he would have killed _you_. You know better than anyone what Death Eaters are like; they would have done worse to you."

"I know," tears spilled down her cheeks, "but somewhere, that guy had a family…someone somewhere loved him…and I took him away from them…"

He let her cry. She had to if she were to ever get over it, she had to let it all out.

"And what if Fiona is right?" she said after some time, "What if I _did_ kill him in cold blood?"

"How could you ever say that she could be right?"

"It didn't feel like _me_, though. I felt…so angry…like something else was controlling me…something snapped in me, Harry. The same thing happened to me on the train when I punched her…I just…cracked."

"Anger can do that to you sometimes."

"It wasn't like anger, though. It was something more than that. I completely lost all control of myself. In both instances."

Harry gripped her shoulders gently, "That's normal, I swear. It's happened to me, too."

Addie let a few more tears fall before drying her eyes with the sleeve of her robe. She sighed, "I'm not normal."

Harry couldn't help but laugh quietly, and Addie let her hand hit his knee with a smack, "Sorry," he said with one last laugh, "You're are normal. And you're finally reacting to this whole situation normally."

"So I wasn't normal before, you're saying."

"No! You are perfectly normal and always have-"

"I'm just going to stop you right there, so you don't dig yourself into a hole."

"That's very kind of you."

"It happens."

With a yawn, Harry looked at the clock above the mantle of the fireplace. It was nearing five o'clock, and he would need a nice, long, cold shower before he would be able to function in a day full of classes, "Well I do need a shower," he said, sounding a bit more suggestive than he had intended to.

"Are you…inviting me?" Addie asked, amused.

"What, no!" he shouted, then added, "Well I mean, I guess if you wanted…I wouldn't object…but no! I'm sorry…I mean, I would be honored…"

"Harry," she stopped him, chuckling at him as his face continued to grow redder and redder, "Remember how I said I didn't want you to dig yourself into a hole?"

"Yeah?"

"You're kind of doing it."

"Right. Well…um…I'm going to shower now…alone…" he began walking toward the boy's dormitory stairs.

He soon disappeared, leaving Addie to her thoughts once again. A small smile spread across her face. It was amazing how much better Harry had made her feel, even though he hadn't really said much that she hadn't already known herself. It was a comfort knowing that he finally knew what had happened.

But, she was still left with an uneasy feeling in her stomach about how easy it had been for her to lose control of herself at the Ministry and on the train. Harry had said that it was normal, but was it? Maybe at the Ministry it had been, after all, her life was endangered, but what about on the train?

It was just the fact that Addie felt like she hadn't had any control over herself in that situation. Fiona _had_ deserved it, that much was for sure, but Addie couldn't remember her brain telling her fist to do it.

That certainly wasn't normal.

Addie needed a second opinion.

* * *

Hogwarts' unlimited breakfast buffet had been one of the features that Harry and Ron had missed most about their school. The two boys' eyes popped out of their skulls at the mounds of delicious food in the room as they approached the Gryffindor table.

Hermione was already seated in their usual spot in the middle of the table, her head buried in her Ancient Runes textbook, which she had not managed to finish reading before returning to school due to the complex formulas for translation. Next to her, the seat that Addie usually occupied was empty, which Harry thought was odd, due to the fact that Harry had seen her up and fully dressed two hours earlier.

"Morning," Hermione said, without looking up from her textbook. She was clearly regretting not reading it from cover to cover before the first day of classes.

Ron grunted an incomprehensible response, for he had already began to shovel food into his mouth. Harry grabbed himself a bowl of oatmeal and asked, "Where's Addie?"

Hermione's eyes snapped up from her book and immediately looked at the cold, empty seat next to her, "She didn't come down here with you? She wasn't in her bed this morning... I just assumed she was down in the common room, but I didn't look because I was in such a rush to finish this book before Ancient Runes today..."

A slight twinge of worry passed through Harry's body; Addie had been so out of it that morning... but it seemed as though she was all right when he left her... but if she hadn't been and she had wandered off and go into trouble, all because he had left her to take a bloody shower, Harry would never forgive himself.

Quietly, he told Hermione and Ron of his encounter with Addie earlier that morning and about what she had told him about that night at the Ministry. They both wore the same slightly horrified look that Harry had upon hearing exactly how McGregor was killed.

"I...I can't even imagine what that was like to witness..." Hermione said, shaking her head, "How horrible... a Blasting Curse."

"It wasn't her fault," Harry said, defensively. The last thing Addie needed was for Hermione to come up with a list of all of the other spells that could have been of use to her instead of the one she had chosen.

"I know," Hermione said, a bit taken aback. She looked as though she was about to say something else, but was stopped as Professor McGonagall approached them, their schedules in her hand.

"Good morning," she greeted them. They mumbled in response as she handed each of them a piece of parchment with their schedules for the term neatly printed across them, "Where is Miss Clayworth? I was sure she would be with you three."

The three looked at each other, unsure of what to say, "Er..."

McGonagall interrupted them, "Well, I suppose she will know to come find me when she decides to show up."

She moved swiftly on down the table to the next group of students and Ron let out a groan, "Bloody hell," Harry and Hermione looked at him curiously, "Look what we've got first."

Simultaneously, Harry and Hermione looked at their schedules and reciprocated Ron's disgust. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all term, their first class of the day would be Defense Against the Dark Arts, with Slytherin House, instructed by Professor Snape.

* * *

Addie had not surfaced when the bell rang, signaling the start of the first class of the day.

Harry sat at a table by himself, in the back corner of the classroom with Ron and Hermione at the table in front of him. They sent him a worried look over their shoulders as Snape entered the room.

"Hey Potter," a voice resonated from behind him, "where's your little girlfriend?" Harry turned to see a swollen-faced, black eyed Fiona sitting with Pansy at a table next to Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, who were at the table directly behind Harry, "I sure hope she didn't run off and get herself killed already."

All of the nearby Slytherins laughed, except for Draco, who was resting his head in his hands and pretending like he hadn't heard her.

Harry opened his mouth to respond appropriately, but Hermione caught his eye and shot him a look first, _It's not worth it_, she mouthed. Not wanting to upset Snape on the first day of class, Harry complied and kept his mouth shut, just as Snape instructed them to take out their textbooks.

Twenty minutes later, just after Snape had instructed the class to break up into pairs to practice nonverbal spells, after a brief and highly uninformative lecture, Addie slipped into the empty seat next to Harry.

"What the-" Harry jumped, startled by his friend's sudden appearance, "Where did you come from," he asked, "and more importantly, where the hell have you been?"

"You're not using a time turner are you?" Ron asked as he and Hermione stood to practice their nonverbals.

Addie shook her head, "As far as I know, we destroyed all of those when we were in the Department of Mysteries...anyway," she added, turning to Harry, "I was writing a letter if you must know."

"A letter? To who?"

"My mum," she replied, then quickly changing the subject, "What are the chances that Snape noticed I was gone? He was occupied with Neville when I slipped in and I don't think he saw me..."

"I beg to differ," Snape's monotonous voice drawled from behind her. Addie held her breath as she turned to face her professor, who was surely not going to take her unexcused absence from the first day of his class lightly.

From his table behind Addie's, Draco, who had been, up until that point, uninterested in anything Snape had to say in class that day, stopped practicing his spells with Zabini and turned his ears towards Addie and Snape.

Addie began to speak, but Snape silenced her, "Save your breath, Miss Clayworth. While I'm sure that your excuse as to why you have waltzed into my classroom twenty minutes late is an exceedingly well-constructed lie that would provide me with a great deal of amusement this early in the morning, I do not wish to hear it."

Once again, Addie made to speak, but was again stopped by Snape, "I do not wish to hear anything that you have to say, Miss Clayworth. I will accept no excuse for your tardiness. Detention in my office every Friday night beginning this week."

Addie's eyes widened. Friday night was the only night that she allowed herself to take a break from schoolwork, "For how long?" she asked, unable to hide the anger from her voice.

"Until I feel that you have sufficiently learned your lesson," and with that, Snape left to criticize Parvati and Lavender several tables away.

Addie's eyes met Draco's, who had not made any effort to conceal the fact that he had been listening. Unsure if he was angry with her or not after the events that unfolded on the train, Addie gave him a halfhearted smile.

He smirked, and then, in a tone that made Addie know that everything was alright between them, said, "Sixth year is really off to a great start for you, isn't it?"

_Sure is_, Addie thought sarcastically, _it sure as hell is_.

* * *

**A/N**

So, yeah. Hi. I don't really know what else to say except that I am so so so so sorry. These past six months of my life have been so horrible and wonderful and all together hectic. Just a brief synopsis so you guys know where I'm coming from: my boyfriend's grandpa died, then I had two deaths in my family within the same damn week, then studying and AP tests, and scholarships, and volunteering, and Senior events, and prom and graduation... I think you get the point.

Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for my unannounced hiatus and I am back in full swing and ready to carry on with this story (and my other ones, too). Thanks for sticking with me!


	9. Chapter 9

_**And the trouble with the truth is it just won't let me rest; I run and hide but there's always another test; and I know that it won't let me be 'til I've given it my best; the trouble with the truth is it just won't let me rest...**_

Sweat drenched every inch of Addie's body, soaking her hair, and plastering the loose hanging pieces to her face. Her face was reddened, a telltale sign of her exhaustion and her heart pounded in her chest, each beat becoming more painful than the last. Her legs throbbed the longer she went, and each time she exhaled, a thousand knives pierced her lungs.

The pain, no matter how crippling it was becoming, went ignored; it was a release, allowing her to forget the dreadful start to her sixth year.

Addie's feet pounded on the terrain around the Black Lake as she rounded the lake for the fourth time. As she neared the rock that marked her starting point of her track around the lake, she knew that she had to stop; her legs were beginning to cramp and were on the verge of collapse. She staggered the last few feet to the rock, and leaned her hands on it, trying to stretch her legs, groaning when she felt the tug of the knots in her muscles.

"You're going to give yourself a heart attack if you keep running like that."

Unaware that anyone else had been outside with her, Addie jumped at Draco's words, "No, but I am going to have one if you continue to sneak up on me like that," Draco rolled his eyes slightly and moved closer to Addie as she took a drink from her water bottle, "Merlin, I'm sure I look awful," she said, chuckling.

"You could never look awful," Draco said softly.

Addie felt even more color raise to her already red cheeks, "How charming of you."

The two stood in silence, both unsure of what to say next. In Defense Against the Dark Arts earlier in the day, Draco had acted like nothing had happened between them, but Addie couldn't just ignore that the two of them had resorted to threatening each other with the detrimental information that they knew about each other on the train back to Hogwarts.

After regaining some strength in her legs, Addie walked toward the edge of the lake and sat down, took off her gym shoes and socks, and let the lake's waves wash over her feet. The cool water felt refreshing on her sore feet and she sighed when the water touched them. Draco joined her on the water's edge not long after.

Not wanting to put off what they ultimately had to talk about any longer, Addie spoke, "I, uh...know this is probably not what you want to talk about, but what we said to each other on the train...about certain things that we know about each other...that wasn't right of us."

Draco remained silent, trying to pick his words carefully. The last thing that he wanted to do was upset her, "It was a little shocking to learn what I did."

"I know."

"And to have to hear it from Fiona...I wasn't angry that I didn't hear it from..._Him_...I was angry that I didn't hear it from you."

Addie sucked on her bottom lip, feeling like she had betrayed him in someway. There was a kind of vulnerability in his voice that told her that he was being completely genuine. It was something that he refused to show to anyone else, and the fact that he would show it to Addie always solidified any doubts that she had about their friendship, "I know," she said quietly, "if it's any consolation, I didn't talk about it with anyone, not until Fiona said anything."

"You didn't talk about it with Potter?"

Another wave rolled over Addie's feet and she shook her head, "I didn't want to talk about it with anyone."

"Of course," he said, throwing a rock into the lake, "if you didn't tell your precious Potter, I certainly couldn't expect you to tell me."

She looked at him seriously, "Can you not do this again, please? I've explained this to you at least a million times. I'm connected to you both and I have been since birth. If you can't accept that, I don't know what to tell you. I'm not going to pick between you."

"I wonder what you would say to him if it was him sitting here with you right now."

"I would tell him the same thing! And I have! Several times!" Addie stood, shoving her feet in her shoes.

"Okay, Addie, okay," Draco said, standing as well, touching her arm softly, "I won't say anything else about it."

Addie's hardened expression softened at his touch, "Can we just forget about this McGregor thing right now? I've already dealt with it enough this week."

"Anything you want."

She smiled weakly, "Thank you. Look, my point in bringing this up is that I want you to know that I would never say anything about this," she said, touching his left arm, "I promise."

"I know," he whispered, "You have to know I wouldn't do that, either. Not to you."

Addie nodded, "Where do we stand with each other, Draco?" she asked. Confused, Draco opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find any words; he thought that they had just settled their differences, "I mean, you say all of these nice things to me, and _act_ like you care about me behind closed doors, but-"

"I _do_ care about you. You're my," he paused for a second and looked deep into Addie's eyes, "best friend. I know that I'm cold to you when other people are around and I'll try to stop."

Addie pursed her lips, "Well, I suppose that will have to do..." she said, gathering her water bottle and heading back toward the castle.

_For now_, she thought. 

* * *

The cool, damp air of the Hogwarts dungeons filled Draco's lungs as he entered the Slytherin common room. Intending to head directly to his dormitory, he kept his eyes starting directly ahead, not looking around the common room because he was rather uninterested in who may be sitting in there.

His conversation with Addie had left him a bit flustered; he disliked being sentimental and vulnerable and genuine, and Addie had a way of making him be all of those things at once, and it always made him feel ridiculous. Not that he would trade the time that he spent with Addie for anything; he just had a hard time being affectionate and his current situation with the Dark Lord wasn't helping that.

"Draco," a voice sang from behind him, pulling him out of his thoughts. He had _almost_ made it to the stairs without being noticed, "Draco, I've been waiting for you."

Pansy approached him from a chair in the far corner of the room. The expression she wore on her face told Draco exactly what she wanted.

"I'm not interested, Pansy."

She looked up at him, and for a moment, her dull, brown eyes bugged out in shock before her face softened into an ugly, lustful grin. Biting her lip slightly, she moved herself even closer to him, "Now, don't say that. I thought we could go ring in the new school year..."

In an attempt to get things moving a little more quickly, Pansy ghosted her fingers up Draco's left arm, immediately causing him to wrench himself back, "Don't touch me, you disgusting whore!"

"Draco, I-"

"Beat it, Pansy."

It wasn't Draco who had spoken, but Fiona, who was just stepping off of the girls' dormitory staircase. Being Fiona's devoted lackey, Pansy recognized the determined look on Fiona's face, and retreated, just as her Queen requested.

"Let's pick this thing back up where we left off last year, yeah?" She placed a hand on his chest before turning her around and heading back to the girls' dormitory and had already traveled halfway across the common room before she realized that Draco was not following her, "Are you waiting for a more proper invitation?" she asked, walking back to him, "Because I thought we agreed last year that neither of us cared much for formalities."

"I will tell you the same thing that I told that other whore, _I'm not interested_," he said, threateningly.

Fiona rolled her eyes, letting out a pig-like growl, "Cut the shit, Draco. I'm not up for your sudden game of hard-to-get."

She ran her hands down his chest and Draco felt his skin crawl, "Get off of me," he said, pushing her back, hard, so that she stumbled backwards.

"What the hell?" she screeched, after regaining her balance, "We did this all the time last year and not once did you act like such a little bitch."

"Things have changed, Fiona," he snapped, irritated.

"Like what, huh?" she asked, angrily, "Your sudden interest in that horrible _prude_ Addie Clayworth? I saw the way you were looking at her on the train and in class today. You have some kind of pitiful fascination with her all of sudden. I suggest that you get over it right away. She is _not_ the kind of person that you want to be seen fraternizing with. Not only is she a Gryffindor, but she's a horrible blood traitor. And I don't care who her father is. If you ask me, he should just get it over with and kill her already."

Draco felt anger bubble in his stomach, travel up his esophagus, and pool in his mouth. His face flushed red, "_Shut up_," he seethed, "Just _shut up_."

Fiona nodded, bitterly, "So I'm right. It's all because of _her_."

"It has nothing to do with her," he snapped, "Can't you just accept the fact that someone doesn't want to sleep with you?"

"I can't accept it from you. Not after how badly you wanted me last year."

"Get the hell over yourself."

"She'll never love you. And she'll _never_ want to be with you. No matter how..." she laughed mockingly, "steamy your little love fest was in Morocco. No matter what kind of bullocks she fed you-"

"Shut up."

"No matter hard you try, to her, you will _never_ measure up to Potter."

He knew she was just trying to agitate him. He knew that. And he knew, the more angry he got, the more he fueled her fire. But he just couldn't help it. Draco Malfoy could never be the bigger person and just walk away. Blame it on pride, blame it on being a Slytherin, or just blame it on himself, but he could never just walk away.

Especially not when someone was throwing his insecurities right into his face.

No matter how many times Addie told him that she didn't care for Potter like that, he just couldn't believe it.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they already had something going on behind closed doors," Fiona continued, "I hope that you're not daft enough to believe that they don't have late nights together up in Gryffindor's common room, after all, that's how we started..."

Draco gagged at the thought that she could be with Potter at that very moment, doing something...

"...and if you don't believe me, just look at the way he looks at her, especially when she isn't looking."

"_Just shut up_! You don't know anything!"

Fiona smirked, looking satisfied at Draco's frustrated reaction, and turned on her heel to return to her dormitory. After traveling a few feet, she stopped and spoke over her shoulder, "People like her don't belong with people like us. We're too good for them. The world will be much better when all of them are gone."

Draco grabbed her by the shoulder, spun her around, and shook her firmly, "Don't you _dare_ do anything to her," he threatened.

She opened her mouth and barked a sadistic laugh, "I won't have to do anything to her. She'll go off and get herself killed all on her own." 

* * *

Addie's letter sat on the table before Claire. Claire sat, staring down at it, with her head in her hands. Bits and pieces of the letter buzzed through her mind.

_...McGregor...Lucius...Fiona...My anger gets the better of me...Wandless magic...Mind-reading...It's like it's not me doing these things...There's something wrong..._

Letting out a frustrated growl, Claire closed her eyes and buried her face deeper into her hands, trying, with great difficulty, to come up with any other explanation than the one she knew was the truth. Ever since Addie had been born, Claire had been hiding from this truth, and now it seemed that she just couldn't come up with a suitable explanation for her daughter, or herself.

When Addie had been younger, it had been so easy to come up with logical explanations about the odd things that Addie did, _"Of course, sweetie, it's completely normal for you to cast spells without your wand,"_ but now that Addie was practically a grown woman and almost done with school, she couldn't pass Addie's oddities off as her simply being unpracticed in the magical arts and Claire knew she would have to face the truth.

The truth that she had been hiding from for sixteen years.

"Care to tell me what's troubling you?" Remus asked, placing a hand on Claire's shoulder.

She looked up at him from her seat at the table and put the letter in his hand. As Remus stood, reading the letter, Claire put her head back in her hands and groaned, "I don't know what to do."

"You can't hide this from her any longer," Remus said seriously when he finished reading, "No more of this, Claire." Claire let her head fall to the table with a thud, "I'm serious. You need to tell her. Or I will."

Claire lifted her head and rose from her seat, poking a finger into Remus' chest, "She is my daughter, Remus. You will leave this to me. I will tell her when the time is right."

"God dammit, Claire!" Remus said, slamming his fist on the wooden table, "Don't you get it? If she's in the dark about this, she's vulnerable! And she's in danger! I will not have her get killed because of your foolishness!"

"You think I don't know that? She's been in danger since she was born!" she cried, voice cracking.

"Then why won't you tell her?"

She sat back in her chair, defeated, "I'll tell her when she's home for Christmas." 

* * *

The fact that the students of Hogwarts had only been to one day of classes didn't stop Hermione from rounding up Addie, Harry, and Ron to get started on the homework that they had already been assigned in their classes. The three sat with Hermione, unhappily, in the back of the common room near the fire in silence. Harry and Ron were pretending to be working on their Divination essays that were not due for another two weeks, and Hermione and Addie were trying, quite unsuccessfully, to do complex calculations for Arithmancy.

Addie's eyes darted from her number chart to her textbook as her quill scratched across her parchment. When she finally got an answer after several minutes of computing, she cursed under her breath in frustration, noting that the answer couldn't possibly be correct.

_Hermione, I hate you for making me take this class,_ Addie thought to herself as she tossed her quill down, giving up on the complicated equations for the night.

"Excuse me," Hermione huffed, "I did not _make_ you take Arithmancy!"

Harry and Ron stopped pretending to be working and looked over at Hermione, "What?" Ron said, confused, "What are you talking about?"

"I was responding to Addie's comment, Ronald."

Ron contorted his face, giving him an even more confused look, "What comment?"

"She just said that she hated that I made her take Arithmancy!"

"No, she didn't, Hermione. She hasn't said anything for at least twenty minutes."

Hermione growled, unsatisfied with the obvious joke that her friends were playing on her, "Oh yeah, real funny. Try to make Hermione look like she's crazy. Ha ha," but upon seeing the look of horror on Addie's face, her anger melted, "What's going on, Addie?"

Addie shifted her eyes to be sure no one was near them, and then, lowering her voice, said, "I...didn't say anything, but...I did think it."

Hermione stared at Addie, mouth agape. Harry was pale faced and Ron dropped his Divination book and parchment on which he was writing his fake essay to the floor. Addie's hands shook.

As if she really needed something else to make her even more abnormal.

"Well," Ron asked nervously, trying to come up with some explanation, "What are the chances that you're both legilimens?"

Not likely. 

* * *

Harry held Claire and Sirius' letters in his hands, studying them, the next morning at breakfast. Something kept telling him not to forget about them, that they were somehow of great importance. There was something hidden in these letters, some hidden truth only known to Claire and Sirius, and maybe a few more people.

Remus knew for sure, _I know that you and Remus want the best possible life for her..._ but who else knew? And, more importantly, why were they keeping something from Addie? Did this have anything to do with what was currently going on with his best friend?

Something told Harry that it did.

"Hey," Addie said, taking the seat next to him, "What do you have there?"

Harry quickly folded up the letters and shoved them into his pocket, "Uh, nothing. Just uh... a note from Cho. Did you and Hermione figure anything out last night?"

Addie sighed, "That's where she went this morning. Skipped breakfast to go to the library to do some research, I sent Ron to go sit with her in there, figured it would give them a little alone time together. Anyway, the only explanation that we could think of was telepathy."

"Telepathy? Like sending thoughts to someone else's mind?"

She nodded, "It's the only thing we can think of. May as well add that to my list of abnormalities."

A silence fell over the two and Harry tried to work up the nerve to tell her what he knew, but he couldn't help thinking about the reasons not to, that Claire had laid out in the letter, _she already has so much to worry about..._ what if he was wrong about it having something to do with what was going on with her at the moment and it did cause her more stress than she needed?

But he had such a strong feeling that he was right...

"So," Addie raised an eyebrow at Harry, pulling him out of his thoughts, "A note from Cho, eh?" 

* * *

Draco was in the process of buttering a piece of toast when Fiona slapped him on his arm and pointed toward the Gryffindor table, "I told you. Just look at him."

He looked up to see Addie sitting closely to Potter, and a jealous fire erupted within him. She was speaking to him very enthusiastically and he was smiling at her with a bright, dopey smile, like a child that just discovered his presents on Christmas morning. His face was blushing red and even from a table away, Draco could see the way that his eyes were lit up in a way that a friend's eyes shouldn't be.

The piece of toast Draco had been holding crumbled as he clenched his hand into a fist.


	10. Chapter 10

_**"If they would let me be I could just breathe again; step aside and let me fight, breathe again; show the world what I got inside, breath again; step aside and let me fight; if they would just let me be..."**_

The first Friday of the school year dawned upon the students of Hogwarts, bringing with it, sunshine and warm weather.

In the Great Hall on that lovely morning, students chattered excitedly, discussing their plans for the long-awaited first weekend of the school year, while eating their breakfast. Sun and blue skies shined above the Great Hall, through the enchanted ceiling, casting a warm glow across the house tables. The day was being warmly welcomed by all students, except Addie, who was dreading her detention with Snape, come seven o'clock that evening.

Except for that one little hiccup, however, even Addie felt that that particular Friday had all the makings of a perfect day.

"I can't find a _anything_ about telepathy!" Hermione said, frustrated, from her spot at the Gryffindor table next to Addie. She scooped some eggs onto her plate, "I must have looked through a hundred books, and _nothing_!"

Hermione had spent much of her free time in the past week in the library, determined to find some kind of answer to give her friend, but she hadn't so much as even come across the word, let alone any kind of information about it.

"Just give it a rest for now, Hermione," Addie said, scooping some eggs onto her own plate, "I really appreciate you looking for me, but I can't ask you to waste any more of your time with it. I'll try to find some information about it on my own."

"I don't understand how there's no information about it in any of the books you read," Harry chimed in, "Even muggles know about telepathy."

"Maybe muggle telepathy is different?" Ron offered, pouring himself some more pumpkin juice.

"Maybe..." Addie trailed off, her mind elsewhere. It did worry her slightly, that the topic of telepathy wasn't in any of the books in the Hogwarts library. After all, Hogwarts was home to one of the largest collection of books in the Wizarding world. If no information could be found there, then where could it be found?

Addie's thoughts were interrupted by the post owls swooping in to make their morning deliveries. Out of habit, and out of hope of a reply from her mother, Addie searched for her tawny owl, Braxton. When she didn't see him amongst the post owls, she turned her attention back to her scrambled eggs, not bothering to look at Hermione's _Daily Prophet_ that had just been dropped in front of Hermione by a delivery owl.

"Bloody hell."

That particular phrase didn't often spill from Hermione's lips; only when something really surprised her did she resort to Ron's usual phrase. Knowing this, her three friends immediately dropped their utensils, and looked toward her, just as she was flattening her _Prophet_ on top of the table for all of them to read. Addie, Harry, and Ron gasped in unison at the large photo of Addie and her father, which had been taken five days before on platform nine and three quarters, and the headline above it:

_**CLAYWORTH'S DAUGHTER SUSPECTED IN DISAPPARANCE OF MINISTRY OFFICIAL**_

So much for a perfect day.

Addie blinked her eyes several times while her three friends stared at her in shock. Blinking her eyes did nothing. Each time she looked at the headline it still read the same thing. Taking a deep breath, Addie picked the paper up from the wooden table and read.

_The magical community's newly appointed Vice Minister, Mitchell Clayworth, may be facing the first scandal of his political career today, as new developments have come to light this week regarding the June disappearance of Ministry of Magic official Anton McGregor. An undisclosed source has reported to the _Daily Prophet _that Clayworth's daughter, Adrienne, 16, played a crucial role in the disappearance of the 38 year old father of three._

The source states "Miss Clayworth is incredibly abnormal and unstable. She has a horrible time controlling her temper and often lashes out at innocent people for no reason, often resorting to physical violence." Though no body has ever been recovered, the source claims to "know for a fact that Miss Clayworth brutally murdered Mr. McGregor in cold-blood this past June."

Anton's family became concerned for him after he did not return home from work on June 18th. "I knew something was wrong when he didn't come home that night. He always let me know what was going on. If he was going to be late, he would have owled me," Anton's wife, Cassandra, said through tears. Cassandra immediately reported her husband missing, and found the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to be incredibly unprofessional and unhelpful, saying that officials in the department "blatantly ignored" her plea for help. A representative for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement declined to comment.

Described as a loving, understanding, and deeply caring man, Anton worked within the Department of International Magic Cooperation, the very same department from which the new Vice Minister was promoted. He had two sons, Connor, 5 and Samuel, 3 and a daughter, Victoria, 9 months. "He loved his children dearly. He would have done anything for them and they just can't understand why daddy won't come home," Cassandra sobbed.

What kind of monster would harm such a wonderful man? "Adrienne Clayworth would," our source states, "I've personally heard death threats spew from her mouth when she's been angry. She's an absolute nutter." Miss Clayworth is currently a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she causes an abundance of trouble and spends a great deal of time with fellow troublemaker Harry Potter. "She and Potter are damn near inseparable, but I suppose that's expected, isn't it? The nutters have to stick together." Not only does Miss Clayworth wreak havoc around the dear school that so many witches and wizards choose to send their children to for an education, she also "travels from bloke to bloke rather quickly." She is pictured at the right embracing Potter minutes after returning from a vacation with the prominent Malfoy family, where she reportedly had a love affair with the youngest Malfoy.

Adrienne Clayworth is clearly a young woman that many parents would not want around their children at Hogwarts. "That girl is a murder and she is running around Hogwarts, putting hundreds of other students in danger. Someone as unstable as she is will murder again and it's only a matter of time before she claims her next victim."

Her father, Mitchell Clayworth was appointed Vice Minister barely a week ago, and already Adrienne is causing trouble for him in his new post. It is clear that he has his hands full with his daughter. As for Cassandra McGregor, she hopes that Adrienne Clayworth is put away in Azkaban for life for the brutal murder of her loving husband, preferably before another family has to go through what hers has because of the girl.

The Daily Prophet _will continue to follow this developing story._

- Rita Skeeter, executive reporter

By the time Addie had finished reading the article, her hands were trembling so badly that the paper shook, blurring the words before her.

It was lies. All of it. Not a single word written about her in that article had been truth.

Everything about McGregor being loving and caring? Lies. All lies! He was a savage Death Eater who had nearly killed her. For a moment, Addie wondered if his wife had known what he had been, and felt saddened for her if she hadn't, but her sympathy for the woman vanished quickly, with a bitter laugh escaping her lips, after remembering that she wanted Addie in Azkaban for defending herself against her gruesome husband.

And the claim that she was a slut? Rubbish! Everyone, at Hogwarts at least, knew that Addie's first and last boyfriend had been Seamus the year before, and the relationship had lasted barely a month.

She had never seen so many lies piled up into one place in all of her life!

Addie stood from her seat at the Gryffindor table, ignoring the protests from her three friends, her eyes set on Draco across the room at the Slytherin table, and headed straight toward him. He too, held the _Prophet_ in front of himself reading the article in disbelief, trying to wrap his head around just exactly what the hell he was reading.

The paper crumpled under his grip as he clenched his hands into fists, angry at the lies that were printed before him.

Before long, Addie appeared at his side, leaning, with one hand on the table, and her body angled toward him. He looked up at her, and he could immediately see hurt in her eyes as she looked at him. Though it was horrible timing to celebrate, he did a few mental cartwheels. She was coming to him with her pain.

She was coming to him for comfort and not Potter.

He had been waiting for this day.

"I'll give you one guess as to who this 'undisclosed source' is," she said, her voice strong, despite her fragile appearance.

The two simultaneously looked down the Slytherin table to where a dark-haired girl, with the slight remnants of a black eye, sat, smirking devilishly at her own copy of the _Prophet_.

Draco stood from his seat, and grabbed her hand, taking up the opportunity that was presented to him, "Come on," he said, gently tugging her toward the large oak doors of the Great Hall, "you don't need to be here right now."

Every set of eyes, it seemed, were on Addie and Draco as they walked out of the Great Hall, hand in hand. 

* * *

Mass chaos ensued in the Vice Minister's office after the delivery of that morning's _Prophet_. Memos flew themselves into his office at full speed, each one of them going ignored by the man as he sat with his elbows resting on his desk, head in his hands, the same question buzzing around inside of his head.

_Who the hell had talked to that Skeeter woman?_

When the Dark Lord had told him of his daughter's actions in June, Mitch had been under the impression that the piece of information was going to remain between himself and his master. Though the Dark Lord had been somewhat impressed by the immense power that the teenage girl had put behind the curse that killed the man, he was rather humiliated that one of his most loyal and faithful followers had been killed by a fifteen year old girl.

And for that reason, Mitch had been positive that the Dark Lord would keep McGregor's whereabouts between the two of them.

The door to the Vice Minister's office flew open, revealing a seething Lucius Malfoy.

"I trust that you've seen this," he said, shaking the _Prophet_ in his hand.

Mitch did not bother lifting his head out of his hands, "Yes, Lucius, I have seen the article."

"What are these accusations?" Lucius asked angrily, slamming the paper onto Mitch's desk, "Where are they coming from? Do you know what they can do to our plan?"

"I do not know," Mitch said, calmly, raising his head to look at the blonde-haired man, "I can assure you, if I did know who told these lies to that woman, they would no longer be walking this earth. And I am well aware, of what this so-called _scandal_ can do to the Dark Lord's plan."

Lucius looked at him skeptically, "Are they lies?" he asked. The inflection in his voice suggested that he did not believe it.

Mitch's eyes narrowed at the man and he stood up from his chair, becoming eye-level with Lucius. He spoke calmly, but his words held a threatening undertone, "I am aware that you do not care for my daughter," he began, "and she may be a lot of things; she may be the troublemaker that the article makes her out to be, and she may even be the harlot that the article suggests that she is, but," his eyes darkened, "my daughter is _not_ a murderer."

Not another word was spilled from Lucius' lips. The men stood, Mitch's desk between them, glaring at one another. The two were still glaring at each other when the door to Mitch's office flew open for a second time. A disheveled and distraught Claire entered the room. She was breathing heavily, jaw clenched, and she too, was holding a copy of that morning's _Prophet_ crumpled in the tight grip of her left hand.

"Show yourself the door, won't you, Lucius?" Mitch said, upon seeing his wife. With one last glare at the Vice Minister, he left and Claire banged the door shut as soon as his coattails had cleared the doorway.

"You fix this!" she yelled, "You fix this right now!"

"I will do everything in my power to," he said, sitting himself back in his chair, "this is harmful to myself and my plans as well."

Claire slammed her fists on her husband's desk, "Screw you and your plans! This is about our daughter and that filthy slander that woman is writing about her! She has been after Addie ever since the Triwizard Tournament! And now she's attacking her publicly! To write such things about a sixteen year old girl...if I ever see her I am going to ri-"

"Please, Claire," Mitch said, stopping his wife in the midst of her death threat, "I can understand your anger, but for now, you must calm down."

She walked to her husband's side, and letting out deep a sigh, sat down on the edge of his desk. A few more deep breaths left her lungs, as she tried to calm herself. If she hadn't known any better, she would have said that her daughter's bad temper had come from her.

"Who on your side knows?" Mitch asked, once his wife had calmed down.

"Not many," she said. "It's been something that we've been keeping relatively quiet, for this very reason," she ran a hand through her blonde hair, thinking for a moment, "Dumbledore, of course, he cleaned it up, as you know. Remus, Harry, Hermione, and Ron."

Disgust crept up his spine at the company that his daughter chose to keep, but he bit it back, not wanting to anger his wife when he needed her on his side for once.

"Who from your side knows?" she asked, "Judging from the horrible way Addie was described, the sob story they painted for you, and the pedestal they put the Malfoy family on, the 'undisclosed source' works for your side."

Mitch tried to think of someone, _anyone_ else that the Dark Lord would tell about this, and each time he ran through the people closest to his master, he came up with nothing. There was no one else that he would tell. He was sure of it.

"Wait."

Claire's voice was stony , and it was clear that whatever information that she was about to share would displease Mitch, maybe even more than it displeased her.

"Fiona Lestrange knows. Addie said in a letter that she sent me earlier in the week that Fiona Lestrange had been harassing her on the train about it... In front of a plethora of other Slytherins."

It was Mitch's turn to lose his temper and slam his hands on his desk, "Dammit!"

Bellatrix had been disobeying their Lord's orders again. She had gone against the first and most important rule that the Dark Lord presented to each new recruit when they joined: information is to be shared with no one. That included family members. She had a habit of telling bits and pieces of information to her daughter in the hopes that Fiona would do something good enough to get inducted herself.

And Fiona, always, always made things worse. 

* * *

A growl of frustration, anger, and pain vibrated in Addie's throat as she hurdled a stone into the Black Lake, so hard that she felt pain rip through her shoulder and travel down her arm. Ignoring the pain, which she seemed to be doing a lot lately, she picked up another one and did the same thing, with even more force.

She did it again, and again, and again, and eventually she was putting so much force into the throws that her feet left the ground each time her arm flew forward. How far the rock went wasn't at all a concern to her; all she cared about was the force with which it hit the water.

Draco stood a few feet behind her, watching as rock after rock plummeted into the water. He wasn't exactly afraid to approach the ferociously angry girl, but he was wary, mostly because now that she had _finally_ come to confide in him, he wasn't sure what to say.

The girl continued throwing rocks until Draco was starting to become incredibly concerned that her arm may literally fall off. She stopped suddenly, and stared at the ripples fanning out across the water until the liquid became still once more.

Then, one, soft sob sounded from her lips.

Just one, but that one sob contained everything; the pain from her overworked arm, the frustration about how horribly her first week of school had gone, the anger about the article that had undoubtedly circulated to thousands of witches and wizards by that time, and the pure, loathsome hate that she felt for not only Rita Skeeter for writing the bloody article, but for Fiona, the bitch who was slowly starting to push Addie over the edge.

It was like Rita Skeeter had known.

It was like she had known that the thing that had been bothering Addie the most about McGregor's death was that she knew that somewhere the man had a family, and for not knowing that, the woman sure knew how to play that up. The thought that he had three so very young children wondering when their father would be coming home was enough to rip Addie's heart right out of her chest and it made her wonder if it would have been better to just let the man kill her...

"Addie?" Draco asked, stepping up next to her, touching her back with his hand lightly, "Are you...are you...okay?"

_No_, but she couldn't talk about it right then. Classes would be starting soon and with Defense Against the Dark Arts up first, Addie couldn't afford to be late for the second time that week, "Yeah," she said, wiping a few tears off of her face, "my arm just hurts." 

* * *

The heavy doors of Malfoy Manor flew open with one sweep of Mitch's wand, causing a loud bang to thunder through the large house. He strode through the house, knowing exactly where he would find the man he was looking for. The Dark Lord had taken up residence in the Malfoy's house early in the summer. It was supposed to be an honor for the family, that he had chosen their home, out of all of the Death Eaters, but Mitch knew that it was a punishment for Lucius' foolish mistake at the Ministry in June, for losing the Potter's prophecy, and for leaving the Dark Lord completely unknowing of what it contained.

"You can't go in there!" The very woman that he detested, more than usual, at the moment, was standing guard outside the door of the dining room, which the Dark Lord had claimed as his own, as its' long dining table was perfect for seating Death Eaters at meetings, "He's busy!"

Mitch ignored her, simply throwing her backward with one flick of his wand. Satisfaction flowed through him at the sound of Bellatrix's screeching as she hit the floor with a thud.

The Dark Lord was sitting in his usual seat at the head of the table at the far end of the room. Nagini sat coiled on the floor, her neck up in the air and her head resting on the arm of the chair, her master's hand stroking it slowly.

"Mitch," he said coolly, "I thought I may be getting a visit from you today."

"Bellatrix has almost cost us our entire operation at the Ministry with her blatant disrespect for your rules, My Lord," Mitch tried to hide the disdain in his voice. If it had been up to him, he would have axed Bellatrix back in the First War, but the Dark Lord saw something in her, and instead of killing her, like he would any other rule breaker, he continued to let her stay on, giving her petty jobs, like guarding his room, and fetching him food, "I am facing near impeachment because of this and I haven't even been in this post for a week!"

Nagini was dismissed with a wave of Lord Voldemort's hand and she slithered out of the room to wander about the house. He looked at Mitch, questioningly, surprised at his tone of voice. No one else would had been able to get away with taking such a tone, but Mitch was different. He had been a loyal Death Eater since seventeen years old, and a loyal follower his entire life, never once making a single mistake. The Dark Lord liked him as much as he was capable of liking another human being, more than any of his other followers and because of this, Mitch was held to a different standard.

"Bellatrix?" he asked, "What has she done?"

"She told her daughter of my daughter's actions at the Ministry, and her daughter took it upon herself to inform the _Prophet_ of these actions."

"Those are heavy accusations you are presenting to me, Mitch. The kind of accusations that, should I find them to be true, result in death of the accused."

"As were the accusations she presented about my daughter."

The Dark Lord nodded his head toward Mitch, "Those accusations against Adrienne, as I recall, are incredibly true."

Mitch swallowed his frustration, "You and I are both aware that McGregor was not the saint that the article made him out to be. He would have killed my daughter, and, judging by the looks of her when she returned home, he nearly succeeded. Adrienne reacted in a way that anyone would, My Lord, you admitted so yourself."

"Indeed she did. She reacted in the kind of way that I look for in my people-"

"It will not happen," Mitch said abruptly to the suggestion that his daughter should become a Death Eater, "We have discussed this. Not my daughter."

"And for your devoted work to me I will honor that. I will not seek to recruit your daughter," he said, "Do tell me, however, why would Fiona Lestrange say these things about your daughter?"

"I am not aware of the reasons behind her animosity for my daughter, but it has gone too far."

Lord Voldemort nodded slowly, his movements so similar to those of a snake, "I do agree. Her mother, given her current status within this group, should not be insulting your daughter or your good name. Bellatrix will be punished properly."

"Thank you, My Lord," Mitch said with a bow.

The Dark Lord nodded in dismissal, and Mitch turned on his heel, walking out the door. He heard his master's smooth voice call Bellatrix in as he left the room.

"Have you been snooping in my things again, Bella?" he heard Voldemort ask, his voice menacing.

As Mitch rounded the corner of the long hallway, he smirked as he heard Bellatrix's faint screams. 

* * *

Addie's first detention with Snape passed on rather uneventfully. In the two hours that he kept her in the Defense classroom that evening, he had her clean the entire thing, top to bottom. She hadn't minded the work, it was monotonous and somewhat soothing and she embraced it after having to answer everyone's questions all day.

_"Is it true?"_

"Did you really do it?"

"How could you?"

"When did you start sleeping with Malfoy?

Those kinds of questions had been thrown at her all day. Between them and the whispers and the people moving away from her any time she neared them, Addie was sufficiently fed up with everyone, and embraced being in a quiet, empty classroom away from it all.

Mostly however, despite the accusations, Addie's fellow Gryffindors stuck behind her and for that, she was grateful.

At nine o'clock, Snape returned to the classroom to inform her that she was free to go for the evening, "Same time next week," he said lifelessly. Addie simply nodded in response and made for the door, "Miss Clayworth," he said, just as she was about to step across the threshold, "I thought it may be of interest to you to know that I have spoken to your father."

"Oh?" Addie replied, unsure of what else to say.

He nodded curtly, "He has assured me that everything shall be taken care of."

"Oh," she said, awkwardly, for a second time, "Well...thank you for telling me." He nodded again, signaling that the discussion was over and it was time for her to move out of his classroom.

Being a Friday night, the castle was still very much alive as Addie began her walk to Gryffindor Tower, and she just hoped that she could get back to the common room without anyone seeing her and posing more questions to her. She wanted nothing more than to just go back to Gryffindor Tower, crawl into her bed, draw the curtains tight around it, and fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When she rounded the corner of the long corridor, she came face to face with a familiar blonde haired boy, nearly crashing into him.

"Sweet Merlin," Addie said, eyes wide, putting a hand over her pounding heart, "you're developing a rather nasty habit of sneaking up on me."

"Is it really considered sneaking if you're the one plowing me over as you round a corner?" he asked with a smirk.

Addie smiled, gesturing for him to turn around and join her on her trek back to the common room, wondering if, maybe, he had been waiting for her. She continued down her desired path, Draco by her side, in a relaxing silence with the boy. They walked, the corridor silent except for the light sound of their foot steps. The silence was comforting for Addie; she knew that Draco wasn't one for talking about feelings, whether it be his own, or someone else's, and she was okay with that.

Then, he did something, taking Addie completely by surprise, bamboozling her already overstressed mind.

He draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her body against his, closing the few feet of space that had been between the two of them.

After she got over her momentary state of shock, she wrapped both of her arms about his waist, making herself even closer to him. Her head rested against his chest, just under his shoulder, breathing in his spicy scent. The two continued walking like that down the hall, Draco damming his reputation as the stone-cold Slytherin and not caring who saw. He dropped a single kiss on the top of her head, causing a small smile to spread across Addie's face. Draco had yet to come up with the right words to console her, but she didn't care.

In that moment, that was all she needed.


End file.
